The Breeder
by Vinividivinci
Summary: An alien race kidnaps Colonel O'Neill to use him for their own purpose. It will be up to his team to save him. This is a Sam/Jack story with whump, romance and angst.
1. Chapter 1

_**My new story is definitely for adults only. It contains sexual references and actions that are rather dark and not appropriate for younger readers. Also - if this kind of thing bothers you - please don't read. **_

The fighting was fierce but he was sure they were going to make it. Teal'c was behind him, firing his staff weapon with deadly purpose. Sam was off to his right and she too was affective at keeping the enemy at bay. It was Daniel who really surprised him. He was no longer the geeky academic, but had turned into quite a good soldier and was firing shots off like an expert.

"Head to the gate", he shouted. "I'll hold 'em."

"I'm good here Colonel", Sam called. "I have a clean line of sight."

He nodded, knowing he could trust Carter to help lay down fire and keep the aliens back while Teal'c and Daniel made their way to the Stargate.

He and Sam backed up slowly, continuing to fire at the – as yet – invisible aliens. They'd arrived on the planet only a few hours before and hadn't seen any sentient life, although Teal'c had found tracks as soon as they'd entered the dark forest that lay just a few hundred yards from the gate.

"Any idea who or what made them?" he'd asked.

"They are humanoid", Teal'c told them, "although they appear to be smaller than an average human. Other than that I cannot determine anything about them."

"There wasn't much by the gate", Daniel told them. "Whoever they are they must not travel through the gate."

"Okay – keep your eyes open people", Jack instructed, holding his weapon at the ready. "We don't want any surprises."

In the end they had been caught by surprise. They had reached a small clearing and in the middle of it was a statue, sitting on top of a three foot pedestal. Daniel, of course, was eager to look at it but knew enough to wait until Jack and Teal'c had checked things out. When it appeared that everything was safe he'd approached it carefully.

"It's some kind of male figure", he told them.

"I can see that", Jack said, his brows lifted. He was looking at the naked – and very well-endowed – statue of a man. "He's certainly -", he stopped and glanced at his Second.

"He's what Sir", Sam asked innocently, although her eyes twinkled.

"Uh – made of stone Major. Definitely made of stone."

"Actually", Daniel peered closely at the statue, "It looks more like some kind of – wait!" He leaned closer and reached out with a single finger.

"Careful Daniel", Jack warned.

"I think this is naquada", the archaeologist told them.

"Really?" Sam moved up and leaned closer. "I think he's right Sir", she said. "And there's enough here to provide an incredible amount of power."

"Hey – no way – you're not going to steal the statue and melt it down!" Daniel protested. "It's an artifact – besides which it belongs to the people of this planet."

Jack sighed and took off his cap. It was hot out in the open. "We'll see Daniel. If it belongs to them of course we won't touch it but it may be that we could trade for it."

"I doubt it", Daniel said, looking around. "I expect this is some kind of holy sight. It looks like someone looks after this place."

Jack did a three sixty of the clearing, his brows raised. "Looks after it?"

"Well, it's not fancy, but someone has to be keeping the growth back and the statue is still standing upright. I don't think we should touch it."

Jack laughed. "It's definitely upright alright! Danny, if _you_ say not to touch it, believe me, we won't. Okay people, let's keep looking and see what we can see."

The words had barely left his mouth when there was a rustle in the forest surrounding them and the next thing they knew whizzed by them, barely missing the Colonel.

"Out of here!" he shouted. Immediately the four teammates turned and ran away from the statue, followed by a rain of weapons fire and shouts – which they assumed from the aliens whose footprints they'd seen.

So here they were again, racing toward the Stargate, aliens with deadly intent in pursuit. Some days Jack wished they could come, see, find something neat and go home. Although he supposed that might get boring after a while. Oh well, a little boredom could be a good thing.

He heard the gate open although he didn't turn to look. Instead he shouted to Carter. "Get going. I'll hold them."

"Jack – come on!" Daniel shouted. He and Teal'c were standing at the edge of the event horizon.

"Coming! Get going guys. I'm right behind you."

He laid down a burst of fire and then turned and ran as fast as his aching legs would carry him. He saw Sam about twenty feet away and Daniel and Teal'c standing by the event horizon waiting for them. "GO", he shouted.

A few seconds later Sam was only feet in front of him, at the base of the stairs. Daniel and Teal'c gave one last look into the now quiet forest and stepped through the gate. Sam was almost at the gate as well and Jack finally breathed a sigh of relief. They were going to make it.

It was at that moment that he felt something slam into his back. His last thought was a simple 'DAMN'!

He hated waking up and not knowing where he was. He could tell by the feel of the place, the sounds and definitely the smells that he wasn't back on Earth. He certainly wasn't in his own bed, or even the infirmary. He didn't hurt – at least he didn't think so – which could be good. On the other hand, it could mean a sarcophagus, which was bad. He had a flash back to waking up in Ba'als clutches and knew a moment of panic.

He kept his eyes closed as he tried to deduce where he could be based on what little he could discover. He was warm – that was good. He didn't hurt – also good (he hoped). He tried to lift his hand but discovered at that moment that both arms were restrained – as were his legs. There were also straps across his chest and thighs and even one at his neck. So – he couldn't move – that was bad. He suddenly felt a small breeze which brought goose bumps to his – crap – skin. He couldn't be one hundred percent positive but was pretty sure he was naked. Damn! This didn't look good or feel good for that matter.

It took him only a couple of seconds to realize that the breeze he'd felt was because someone – or something – had walked in the room he was in. He or she or it must have opened a door and was now moving close to him.

He could feel his body tense and his heart rate rise. There was nothing quite like lying flat on your back, naked and helpless. God – he hoped his team found him soon.

Without warning something reached out and touched his chest. He jerked and let out a small yell in surprise. The hand, if that was what it was, had been freezing.

His response caused the one who had touched him to begin jabbering in some language Jack had never heard before. There was a response from another being and a moment later his eyelid was being lifted.

He tried to jerk his head away but discovered that it too was restrained. Okay, this was definitely not good. Since his one eye was open anyway – looking into the face of what looked like a relatively normal human male – he decided to open the other one.

That immediately caused more talking on the part of his captors. Although he couldn't turn his head to see everything, he could see the two – men – who were standing over him. They were definitely humanoid, but there was something a little off about them. For one thing, they were small. It was difficult to tell from where he was lying, but they didn't look like they could be much over five feet tall – if that. They were also extremely pale – almost to the point of looking like something from a horror movie. Their eyes were dark – black – as was their hair, which hung down past their shoulders.

They were now staring at him, and he figured he might as well try and communicate with them. He really needed to get them to release him. He could already feel himself want to scream. There was nothing he hated more than being restrained like this.

"Uh hi", he said. Might as well start strong Jack! "My name is Jack. What's yours?"

The aliens continued to look at him for a moment but then turned to one another and began to speak in their strange, guttural language.

"Hey, it's not very nice to ignore me", he told them. "I just introduced myself. Don't you want to give me your names?"

This time they didn't even look at him, instead, one of them walked to the end of his bed, where he quickly lost sight of him. He couldn't bend his neck and therefore his field of vision was rather narrow.

"What about you?" he said to the other guy who was still standing close by. That one also said nothing and completely ignored him. Jack began to get really worried. They didn't seem interested in talking to him so what the hell did they want?

He started to feel rather strange – as if he'd been given something. He hadn't felt any kind of needle or anything so wondered what was going on. He tried to look down, as much as he was able, and could see something out of the corner of his eye. He strained to look at it and eventually could see a thin tube coming from his arm. Damn – they must have him hooked up to some kind of IV.

He started to feel hot. Not hot as in 'the air conditioning had been turned off' but hot as in a gorgeous, naked woman had just walked by and brushed up against him hot. What the hell was happening?

"Hey!" he yelled. "Don't touch that!" The man he could no longer see was fiddling around with his – "STOP IT!" He didn't know what was happening, but he knew it couldn't be good. It felt like the guy was putting something like a condom on him, although it felt a bit more solid than that.

He began to feel more and more uncomfortable and worried. It was obvious that whatever they'd pumped into him was causing an extreme sexual response and his body had responded accordingly. He groaned – desperately needing release as the sensations – along with his erection – grew. It was becoming painful and he tried to move, but couldn't due to the restraints that were holding him down.

"God – please!" he begged. He felt like he was going to explode – and not in a good way. He was sweating and began to feel nauseated, all the while continuing to feel extraordinarily aroused. "Please", he said again, this time in a whisper. He was almost passing out.

Finally he did explode – and it wasn't the normal good feeling he usually had during sex. It was as if his body was being forced to respond, even though it didn't want to. He could feel his seed shooting out into whatever the guy had put on him. It went on and on for what felt like forever until his system begin to shut down.

It was finally over, and he could feel that his body was close to collapse. He was so exhausted, so traumatized that he barely felt the alien touching him again, this time to remove whatever he'd put on him. Jack began to fade away, his last thoughts and feelings were of having been violated.

The next time he awoke he knew instantly that things hadn't changed. He was still tied up, still naked and still didn't know what was going on.

No – that wasn't quite true. Something had changed. He glanced down and could see something on his face. He wiggled his nose and mouth and realized that there was a tube running out – or maybe into one nostril. He then looked up and could see a bottle suspended over his bed. Okay – so they were feeding something to him through his nose. He prayed it was just water or nourishment and not some kind of drugs. He closed his eyes, trying to get a hold of himself. He swallowed and tried to slow down his breathing.

He was terrified – he admitted it to himself. He didn't know where he was or what the aliens were doing to him – or why. All he knew was that he still couldn't move and it was driving him crazy.

There was a sound and his eyes swiveled to the alien – he was pretty sure it was the same one as before although it was hard to tell.

"Where am I?" he asked. "Please, can you tell me what you want?" He waited but the man didn't speak, he simply stared for a moment and then turned and walked away.

Jack could tell the alien was still in the room, but couldn't see what he was doing. "Uh hey there!" he called. "Can you hear me? Can you _talk_ to me? I told you, my name is Jack. What do you want with me?"

Still no reply. The door opened again and clearly someone else walked in because a moment later he heard talking. "HEY! What the hell is the matter with you guys? Can't you talk to me? WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?" he screamed.

That seemed to have got their attention. Both aliens walked over and looked down at him, their expressions never changing. They spoke to one another again until one of them nodded and walked away. He returned a few seconds later with something in his hand. Jack tried to see what it was, but couldn't move enough to really see it.

"What is that?" he asked. He found out a moment later when the alien lifted his hand and suddenly something was thrust into Jack's mouth.

He yelled and tried to move his head or close his mouth – anything to get that thing out. Of course, with his head restrained there was really nothing much he could do. The second man reached down and wrapped a strap around Jack's head. He fiddled with it for a moment and then pulled his hands away.

They'd put a god-damned gag on him! Jack worked his mouth around the hard plastic – he assumed it was plastic – ball that had been jammed into his mouth. He tried to scream around it, but it filled his mouth so much it was even difficult to make a sound. The aliens continued to ignore him.

He laid there for what felt like hours, although he knew his ability to measure time was severely hampered by the stressful situation he was in. All he knew was that he was going insane – and he was terrified. He continued to try and pull at the restraints but whatever they used were strong and didn't budge. He could feel that he was starting to lose it and forced himself to relax by telling himself that Daniel and Teal'c and Sam would come and get him soon. They would never leave him – he was sure of it.

The aliens came and went, checking out some kind of monitors – or at least that's what he assumed. Once one of them changed the bottle over his head. He also checked the tube in Jack's nose and seemed to be satisfied after wiggling it around a few times.

It was a short time later that one of the men again moved down towards Jack's feet. A few seconds later he began to get that strange sensation again. He groaned – knowing what was coming.

He was pretty sure he was going mad, and it wasn't happening slowly. He didn't know how long he'd been here, but knew it had been too long. More than anything in the whole world he wanted to move. His muscles were seizing and everything hurt. Worse than that was the simple fact that being _unable_ to move left him constantly on the verge of extreme panic. He had to continuously work to keep his heart rate down and to stop himself from having panic attacks.

The aliens continued to come in and out of his room, looking after all his bodily needs as if he were no more than a helpless infant or someone who was unable to look after himself. He was horrified by it – the indignity being the least of it. He was fed and watered by a tube stuck up his nose and into his stomach. His bladder was emptied regularly by one of the aliens sticking a tube into him. The worst had been the enema he'd been given. He'd wanted to scream but couldn't because he still had the gag stuck in his mouth – the gag that was causing all sorts of very painful mouth sores.

The worst of all though, was that he was regularly given some kind of sexual stimulant that constantly forced him to orgasm. He'd figured out that they were collecting his sperm – for what reason he didn't know, although he was sure it wasn't for anything good.

He tried to use all the techniques the Air Force had taught him to withstand torture, but admitted they weren't really working. Every time they forced him to ejaculate he wanted to die – or to kill someone, preferably one of the aliens. Instead he had no choice but to lie there and let them use his body any way they wanted. He couldn't fight it, no matter how hard he tried. All he could do was lie there feeling sick and in despair and violated.

He'd kept himself going for a while, by telling himself that any moment his team were going to come and get him. But now he was beginning to lose hope. Where were they? Why hadn't they come for him?

"Please guys", he said to himself. "Come and get me. Please. I can't take much more of this."

"They've got to be there Sir." Daniel was pacing back and forth in the briefing room. "There's nowhere else they could be."

"Then why can't we find them Dr. Jackson?" Hammond said, sounding tired. They'd gone over and over this but were no nearer finding a solution than before. Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter had been missing for over two weeks and they hadn't been able to find any sign of them. He'd sent out a team everyday but each one had come back with absolutely nothing.

"I agree with Daniel Jackson", Teal'c said. "They must be there. We are simply missing something."

"But what?" Daniel had his arms wrapped around himself, his usual stance when he was worried. "What could we possibly be missing?"

"They must have a secret base somewhere", Teal'c informed him. "We know there are people on the planet but we have not discovered them either."

"The Pentagon wants me to shut down the rescue missions", the General said. "I've held them off as long as possible but I don't know how much longer I can do it. It's costing us millions to continue to try and find them."

Daniel swung angrily on the general. "You're worried about _money_ when it's Jack and Sam?"

Hammond held up his hand, too tired to even take offense. "Dr. Jackson, I'd spend every penny of the defense budget if I could to bring those two back, but it's not up to me. I'm just telling you that the powers that be won't let me continue for much longer. We have to find some evidence of them and sooner rather than later."

Daniel sat heavily in one of the chairs. "Sorry Sir. I know it's not you – it's just – where the hell can they be?"

"We must return", Teal'c said calmly. "They must be there. We have simply missed the clues."

"Okay Teal'c. You and Dr. Jackson can go with Sg-3. I'll give you five days – and _find_ them because I expect this will be our last chance."

"We will Sir", Daniel stood up. "There's no way in hell we're leaving them there."

"We do not leave people behind General Hammond", Teal'c agreed.

"No – no we don't. Go and find them people and bring them home."


	2. Silence

_**Sorry if I didn't make it clear – this is definitely a Jack/Sam fic (aren't **__**all**__** mine?). Thanks for the continuing and lovely reviews. **_

She was going crazy! She'd been here for almost three weeks and still didn't know what they wanted with her. So far they hadn't hurt her, at least she didn't think they had. There had been a couple of times when she'd woken up with the feeling that she'd been asleep longer than normal. She'd also felt a strange tenderness in her abdomen. It worried her, but after a couple of days it went away and then she felt fine.

As she sat on the narrow cot in the small room she'd spent the last few weeks in, she thought back to the day she'd been captured. She had been just about to step through the gate, following Daniel and Teal'c, when she'd heard a gasp from the Colonel. She turned to see him falling forward, a surprised look on his face. She'd opened her mouth to shout for him when something had hit her in the chest. That was the last thing she knew until she woke up in this room. She prayed he was alright and was either in another room or had been rescued.

She had been sure that a rescue from the SGC would have been mounted immediately but as each day went by she began to lose hope that they'd find her – them. Since she was pretty sure she was still on the same planet – unless they'd taken her through the gate while unconscious – she couldn't figure out why she hadn't been rescued.

Sam stood up suddenly, too anxious to stay seated any longer. She wanted to know what the hell was happening, but she couldn't get the aliens to communicate with her. She'd tried – countless times – but they just ignored her. They could speak, because she often heard them talking to one another, but they didn't attempt to speak with her or even respond to any of her attempts to communicate.

The aliens were strange. They were humanoid, that was obvious, but other than that she had no idea who they could be. They were small – under five feet from what she could see. They also looked as if they never got any sunlight. Their faces were almost white and, with their long black hair, they gave the appearance of rather effeminate vampires.

At least they hadn't hurt her, she thought again. In fact, they seemed to try and take very good care of her. She was fed regularly – with what appeared to be reasonably healthy food. She was taken to a small enclosed area and allowed to stretch and walk around for an hour every day. However, she was never taken outside which made her wonder what kind of facility she was in.

Every once in a while she was taken to another room – something like an examination room she decided after her first visit. She would be placed on a table and one of the aliens would look at some kind of monitor. She figured they were checking out her vital signs – why she didn't know.

She thought about the people back home, and how they'd be worrying about her. She wondered if General Hammond had said anything to Pete or had simply told him that she was on an extended mission. She knew he'd be killing himself with worry if he'd been told she'd been captured. She suddenly missed him with an ache that surprised her. She cared for him – hell, she'd agreed to marry him – but sometimes worried that she found it awfully easy to put him out of her mind when she was working. Still, right now she would have given anything to see him and have him envelop her in his safe and comfortable arms.

Her father would also be worried and would probably join the rescue effort – if they were able to contact him. Sometimes he was on undercover missions and it could be months before they could communicate with him. Mark wouldn't worry because he wouldn't know. He'd simply think she was on another one of her Air Force extended missions. He didn't ever want to know details - even if she could have told him.

With a heavy sigh she finally sat down again, wishing someone would tell her what was happening to her, where Colonel O'Neill was, and why the hell she hadn't been rescued.

She was going crazy!

* * *

"We've been this way before Dr. Jackson", Reynolds said, "Just yesterday and there was nothing here then, nor the day before, nor last week."

"I know, I know", Daniel answered, still looking carefully at every tree and plant they passed. "But this is the way we came when we arrived on the planet. I'm sure there's got to be something here."

"What? Another tree? Maybe the tree people got them", Lieutenant Bosco said sarcastically. He too was tired of going over the same ground day after day.

Daniel ignored him and continued to investigate the surroundings. Reynolds sighed and signaled to his men to keep looking. He wanted to find Jack and Major Carter as much as they did, he just didn't think they were going to find them here.

"We're coming to the clearing", Peterson called out. They'd all seen the statue – a number of times - and normally there would have been a lot of ribald comments but right now people were too worried about the missing officers and it hadn't seemed appropriate.

"This _has_ to be it", Daniel said, stopping and speaking to Teal'c. "There's something about this place – I don't know what – but I know it has something to do with their disappearance."

"I too believe there is something here", Teal'c said. "Unfortunately we have been unable to find anything."

"Could the statue be some kind of transportation device?" Reynolds asked, looking at it carefully. There was something almost – obscene – about it. He'd seen lots of classical naked statues before, but this one gave him the creeps.

"We didn't find any kind of EM signal", Daniel answered, "and it doesn't have any wiring or electronics in it. I think it's just a regular statue."

"But why is it here? I mean, what does it do?" Bosco asked, looking at it with a frown. "Why would they have a statue of a naked man in the middle of the forest?"

"Some kind of fertility symbol, probably", Daniel explained.

"Or maybe it's just art", Peterson quipped. "Maybe the aliens here are all women."

Reynolds and Bosco both laughed. Daniel however frowned and stepped closer. "Maybe you're right, although that doesn't help us find Jack or Sam." He walked up to the statue and examined it closely. There had to be _something_ but as far as he could see it was just a statue, even if it was made of naquada.

"Have you picked it up?" The Colonel asked him. "Maybe there's something underneath."

"It's attached to the pedestal. I don't think it comes off."

Teal'c walked up to it at that point and without pause, reached over and tried to lift it. The other men all watched anxiously but it didn't budge. He finally stepped back, a fierce scowl on his face. "It will not move."

"Maybe you're supposed to grab its dick", Bosco said jokingly. "It could be a handle or something."

The other men grinned but Teal'c, without a blink, reached out and grabbed the large 'appendage'. Immediately – to everyone's shock but his, there was a rumble of sound and the ground at their feet began to open.

"What the hell!" Reynolds stepped back quickly, almost falling into the hole that had appeared at his feet. "You've got to be kidding!"

Daniel's brow rose – he too was surprised as he'd never seen anything quite like it either. "Uh – way to go Teal'c."

Teal'c bowed his head and then stepped forward. He leaned over and peered into the hole, to see a set of narrow, steep stairs which led into the ground. "I believe we may have found where Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter were taken."

* * *

Jack's mind was no longer in the present, but instead he'd retreated into thoughts of the past. After days – weeks – he'd known it was the only thing he could do if he didn't want to go truly mad. So now he spent all his time reliving his life. He concentrated only on the good – on happy days with Sara when they were first married, on thoughts of the birth of his son and he spent time reliving those wonderful moments watching Charlie grow up. From there he'd forced himself to skip the terrible tragedy of Charlie's death and instead spent time thinking of the early days travelling with his team. He thought back to every mission he could, remembering all the events – both good and bad. He replayed them, and also team nights – playing poker and watching TV, eating pizza and talking with his friends. He spent time remembering being at his grandfather's cabin as a child, thinking of those magical summers swimming and fishing and spending time with his family. He walked the trails around the cabin – looking at the trees and plants, watching birds and the wildlife.

Every moment was a new trip back into his memories and it allowed him to remain sane. A part of him knew, however, that doing this would eventually cause him to fall into madness anyway. He would lose touch with reality for ever and spend all his life trapped in the past. Still, it was better than spending his days silently screaming, unable to make sounds past the gag in his mouth, frantically trying to pull at the restraints, knowing he would never be free.

He still had odd moments of awareness when he'd be brought back to the present. It was during those times that he knew he was growing weaker and sicker. He was in pain now, although the aliens had done nothing more than keep him restrained. Still, the inability to move had caused terrible sores to erupt all over his back and hips and legs. His mouth was a mess – the lack of moisture and the hard gag had caused lesions which were now infected. He could feel them seeping and the blood and pus slowly dribbled down his throat, making him cough and choke.

The aliens had continued to inject him with the stimulant but the last few times his body had barely responded. He knew he was too weak, too exhausted – and whatever drug they were giving him was no longer effective.

He heard them talking after the failure of the last injection – in fact they had started to argue. He could feel when they'd given him more of the drug and within moments he felt like he wanted to crawl out of his skin. It had given caused an erection, but he'd been unable to orgasm – which left him hurting and again wanting to scream. Eventually his body had relaxed, but he hadn't climaxed – which upset the aliens immensely. As miserable and helpless as he felt, he'd almost wanted to laugh. Instead he'd retreated again into his memories. He figured that he couldn't last much longer, so he thought back to the last summer he'd spent at the cabin with Sara and Charlie. If he was going to go, at least he'd leave while reliving one of his most joyful memories.

* * *

After sending Peterson back to the gate to let Hammond know what they'd found, Reynolds, Daniel and Teal'c made their way down the stairs. They left Bosco at the surface to wait for back-up and to watch their six.

"See anything?" Daniel whispered. Teal'c was in front, with Reynolds bringing up the rear.

"Not as of yet", the big man answered softly. The stairs wound around, deep into the ground. There were no obvious lights, but there was a soft pink glow coming from somewhere down below.

At that moment they reached the end of the stairs. In front of them was a door – it looked as if it was made of metal.

"It doesn't look like these guys are primitives", Reynolds commented softly. "That door looks pretty high-tech."

"Goa'uld", Teal'c said. The one word said it all.

"Crap! You mean to tell me we've stumbled onto some kind of Goa'uld outpost?" Reynolds lifted his weapon and looked carefully around, but there was little to see except for the stairs leading back up to the surface.

"It appears so", Teal'c answered, "although I have never heard of one like this."

"Uh guys – don't you think we should figure out how to get in? Jack and Sam are probably wondering what's taken us so long."

"If they are alive."

Reynolds looked at Teal'c in surprise, not only at his words, but at the calm manner in which he'd uttered them. "You think they're not?"

"I do not know", the big man answered, "It is a possibility, however Daniel Jackson is correct. We must get in and see."

"Yeah – okay. So, you got any ideas?" The Colonel was still a bit shocked at how calm both Teal'c and Daniel appeared. If he'd had more experience with them however, he would have realized that both men were hanging on to their emotions carefully. Teal'c was far from as calm as he appeared. In fact, he wanted to break down the door in front of him and start shooting any and all Goa'uld, Jaffa or any other aliens he could find.

Although Daniel was not quite so bloodthirsty, he too was feeling anxious. "Uh Teal'c? You know how to open this?"

Teal'c stepped forward and looked carefully at the door. After a few more seconds he reached out and placed his hand at the side of the door. There was a soft 'woosh' and a panel opened. Without saying anything he tapped in a code. Nothing happened.

"Damn!" Reynolds muttered. He was almost ready to shoot the damn door to get it open that way. Before he had a chance Teal'c tapped in another code. This time the door slid open.

"Careful everyone", Colonel Reynolds stuck his head around the door to see nothing but an empty corridor. Like the stairwell, it too was lit by the glow of soft pink lights. If it had been anywhere else it would have looked rather pleasant. For the rescuers it meant nothing other than that they could see.

"Which way?" Daniel looked again at Teal'c, who did nothing but raise his brow.

"I have not been here before", he explained.

Daniel grimaced and looked towards the Colonel. "Any ideas?"

"Nope. I suggest we pick a direction and go for it. Watch your backs folks. We don't know what's down here." With that he took a step down the right hand corridor and Daniel and Teal'c fell in behind.

So far they hadn't seen or heard anyone, which gave the place an eerie, dead feeling. Because of the silence they remained as quiet as they could, speaking only with hand signals.

After walking for a couple of minutes they came across another closed door. Reynolds signaled to Teal'c, who repeated his actions of before. The door slid open but the room was dark and unused. They continued on.

They checked out another couple of doors but found nothing but more unused rooms. It wasn't until they'd reached the very end of the hallway that they found a room that was brightly lit. Fortunately it was also empty, so they stepped inside.

"What is this place?" Reynolds looked around, a puzzled look on his face.

"Some kind of lab, I think", Daniel replied. Lined up against the wall were large metal containers. He approached one cautiously and looked down at it. He slowly reached out –

"Careful!" the Colonel said.

"I think it's a cooling unit or freezer", Daniel replied. "I can feel the cold."

"Storing something?" Reynolds suggested

"Yeah, I think so. I have no idea what though and I don't really feel like opening it."

"No, best not. It could be something deadly." The Colonel took a step closer and looked at the containers. "Baby Goa'uld maybe?"

"Possibly, although I've never heard that they froze them. Teal'c?"

"I do not believe that is what this is. I too have never heard of anyone freezing the larvae. It must be something else."

"I wonder if we should destroy whatever it is?" Daniel asked.

"Since we don't know what it is Dr. Jackson, I suggest we leave it alone. We could either blow ourselves up or release something toxic, neither of which appeals to me."

"Yeah, probably not a good idea."

"Come on, let's get moving. We still have a couple of officers to locate." Reynolds took one last look at the metal cylinders and then headed towards the door. He stepped into the corridor and practically ran right into a man who was hurrying by.

With a cry the alien backed up against the wall and stared at the intruders. Reynolds quickly lifted his weapon and pointed at the man, who continued to stand frozen.

"Dr. Jackson, do your stuff!"

Daniel stepped forward and attempted to speak with the man, with no success. Although his eyes continued to flicker between them, the alien man n didn't seem able – or willing – to speak. It was only when his eyes glanced to the side that they realized someone else was coming.

The second alien opened his mouth, obviously to shout, when Teal'c took him out with a zat. The first man then tried to turn and run, but this time it was Daniel would brought him down.

"Daniel, check them out. We're going to have to tie these guys up and hide them before they give us away."

"Uh – I don't think we need to", Daniel said, slowly standing up. "They're dead."

"_What_? But they were only hit once with the zat." Reynolds quickly knelt down and tried to find a pulse on one of the aliens. "Damn – what could have happened?"

"They look weak", Teal'c commented. "I suspect they were not able to withstand the effects of the zat'nikatel."

"Okay folks, let's get these guys out of here and find O'Neill and Carter", Reynolds instructed. He felt badly about killing the aliens, but couldn't take the time to worry about it now.

Daniel took the legs of one of the aliens and Teal'c took the other and they dragged them back to one of the empty rooms. After depositing them inside they quickly shut the door and walked back to the end of the corridor.

"Okay, which way now?" They looked to the left and right but there didn't seem to be much difference. The Colonel shrugged and turned right again.

They didn't see another person – or alien – but found many more empty rooms. It almost looked as if at one time many more people inhabited, or at least used, the underground facility. Now it appeared almost deserted.

"Just one more door. I wish we knew what this place was for." Daniel looked around curiously, but then turned to watch Teal'c.

Teal'c reached out and opened the last door in the hall. It swished opened and Reynolds lifted his weapon.

"Oh thank God!" Sam was standing in the doorway, staring at her teammates and Colonel Reynolds. "What took you guys so long?"

She wanted to burst into tears, so relieved was she to finally be rescued. She didn't though, knowing that she wasn't about to let herself break down like that in front of the guys – especially Colonel Reynolds. Instead she stood calmly, as if she'd only been waiting a few minutes.

"_Sam_! Thank God. Are you okay?" Daniel rushed forward and grabbed her and hugged her. "Are you alright?" he repeated, leaning back and looking at her.

She laughed softly, tears perilously close to the surface. "I'm fine, although I was about to go crazy with boredom. What took you guys so long?" she repeated.

"Uh – we had a bit of trouble finding you. Do you know where Jack is?"

"No", she frowned. "Haven't you found him? I haven't seen him since I was captured."

"Major Carter – it's good to see you. _Are_ you alright?"

"Colonel Reynolds – hello. Yes, I'm fine. They haven't hurt me – just kept me in this room for weeks with only a few trips to other rooms."

"Good. We'll soon get you home but now we've got to find O'Neill and get out of here. Let's go people."

As Sam followed Reynolds she looked over at Teal'c and smiled. "You don't know how good it is to see you Teal'c."

"Indeed Major Carter, I do. It is how I feel about seeing you. We were worried."

"Any idea why they were keeping you Sam?" Daniel asked as they walked. They were heading back down the corridor they'd just traversed. They would now explore the corridor to the left of the original one they'd come down.

"No. I tried to communicate with them but they refused to speak with me. I kind of got the feeling this was some kind of science or maybe even medical facility. I think they may have examined me a couple of times while I was asleep or unconscious, but they never hurt me. They did monitor me every couple of days though. I just wish I knew what it was about."

"And no word from Jack?"

"No – nothing. I was just about to step through the gate, following you and Teal'c, when I heard him gasp. He'd been shot by one of their weapons. I barely had time to react when I was shot as well. The next thing I knew I woke up in that room."

"God, I hope he's okay", Daniel bit his lip. "You said he was _shot_?"

"Yeah, but I think it was by the same weapon as me. It didn't do any lasting damage. I think it was some kind of stun gun."

"I hope so." Daniel and Sam stopped after Reynolds put up his hand. They stood quietly, waiting to see if anyone was coming. After a few minutes he gave the all clear and they continued on.

After opening three more doors to empty rooms they wondered if they were ever going to find the Colonel. They'd been down below for over an hour and had only seen the two aliens. Things were quiet – too quiet – and they began to worry.

Teal'c had gone ahead and was checking out every room. Reynolds stayed a few feet behind, carefully watching to make sure no one snuck up on them. It was when they heard an exclamation from Teal'c that they knew he'd found something. They all watched as he disappeared into a room and swiftly ran forward to the door.

"No", Teal'c had returned and was standing blocking the doorway. "Colonel Reynolds, can you assist me. Daniel Jackson, Major Carter, please remain here."

"What?" Daniel frowned. "What's going on Teal'c? What is it?"

"I have found O'Neill. Wait here and watch to make sure no one comes. I shall retrieve him."

"Is he okay?" Sam asked with a frown. "What's wrong? Why can't we go in?"

"He is unconscious. Please remain here Major Carter. I do not believe O'Neill would wish you to see him as he is. Colonel Reynolds?" Teal'c looked at him, a clear message in his eyes.

"Major, you and Dr. Jackson stay here. I'll go with Teal'c." He stepped forward, swiftly following the Jaffa into the room. He was surprised when Teal'c reached out and closed the door behind them. "Teal'c?"

"O'Neill is in bad shape Colonel Reynolds. I did not wish for Major Carter or Daniel Jackson to see him like this."

Reynolds nodded and walked forward, suddenly noticing the man spread out on a metal table. "Holy Shit!" He rushed forward to see a pale and emaciated Jack O'Neill, strapped to the table. "What the _hell_ have they done to him?"

"I do not know", Teal'c answered, his voice tight with anger. "Help me release him." As he spoke Teal'c was removing the restraints around his friend's wrists.

Reynolds began with the ankle restraints, cursing the entire time. It looked as if Jack had lost a huge amount of weight. Not only that, but he could see the bloody, pus-filled sores lining the unconscious man's skin. He looked up towards Jack's face and clenched his teeth in fury when he saw the blood seeping from his mouth which was held wide open by a horrible looking gag.

Teal'c had finally released all the straps holding the Colonel and was looking down in pity at the bruises, welts and lesions that covered his friend. He then gently reached around and undid the strap around his head and carefully removed the hard gag. He cursed in Goa'uld when the gag brought with it skin from the inside of O'Neill's mouth. His mouth was so dry that the material had adhered to the inside and had ripped away the tender flesh.

"You'll have to remove the tube", Reynolds pointed to the tube going into O'Neill's nostril. "I expect that's how they fed him, although it obviously wasn't enough."

While Teal'c carefully and gently removed the tube, Reynolds worked on the IV ran into his arm. He couldn't help but notice that Jack's – privates – were scraped and raw. He wondered briefly what had been done to him, but then put it out of his mind. That would be for the Doc to worry about. His job was to get Jack home safely.

"Okay?' he asked Teal'c.

The alien Jaffa nodded, his teeth clenched tightly. "I need something to cover him", he said. He was not about to let O'Neill suffer the indignity of being carried out naked. He would be humiliated by that, especially since Major Carter was with them.

"Uh – I don't – let me see." Reynolds checked around the room, finally finding a drawer filled with what looked like uniforms of some kind. He pulled out a loose white shirt and pair of pants – and immediately recognized them as the same ones the men they'd – killed were wearing. "Here. They'll be too small, but should cover him."

Teal'c nodded and took the pants. Fortunately they had an elastic waist and he was able to put them on O'Neill without much difficult. They were much too short, but at least they covered him enough to give him some dignity. The shirt was going to be much too small so Teal'c simply laid it on top of him to give him some warmth. With one look at Reynolds, who nodded, he leaned over and gently scooped O'Neill into his arms.

"Let us go home Colonel Reynolds. O'Neill needs immediate help."

Reynolds simply nodded again. "Yeah, although I'd like to kill me a few more of those bastards!"

"We shall return", Teal'c promised ominously.

Sam hissed in shock when she saw Colonel O'Neill. He looked half dead – for a minute she'd actually wondered if he was.

Daniel swore – not usual for him – but totally understandable. "What the hell did they do to him?" he asked, following Teal'c who was walking swiftly down the corridor.

"I don't know", Reynolds answered, watching carefully for more aliens. Except for the fact that they needed to get O'Neill back, he was half wishing that a bunch would suddenly show up. He wanted to blast the bastards into little pieces. "It looked like they were experimenting on him or something. They had him strapped to a table and it looked like he may have been there the whole time!"

If he'd been a little less angry, he probably would have been more careful what he said to O'Neill's team. He didn't see the shock or fear on the faces of Carter or Jackson. Instead he kept his eyes open for the short little sadistic aliens.

* * *

Jack was dreaming. He'd been at the cabin – having a wonderful time fishing with Charlie. They were laughing and joking around and had decided to head back to the cabin to get some freshly baked cookies that Sara had promised to make.

They were half-way back when suddenly Jack felt himself being pulled away from his son. He wanted to scream, to cry out, but nothing happened. He could see Charlie continue on the cabin as if nothing was wrong while he stood frozen. Time seemed to stand still and then he could feel himself moving away from the cabin and from his son.

For a moment he thought he heard Teal'c's voice – but that couldn't be right. He was at the cabin – he didn't know anyone by the name of Teal'c – not now, not yet. 'Yes you do', a faint voice whispered. 'He's your friend – trust him.'

He still didn't know what was happening, but suddenly the bright, warm day turned dark and he knew something awful was about to happen. He opened his mouth to once more try and scream – but still there was only silence.


	3. Unbound

_**As always thank you for the many kind reviews. For those of you who find this too dark - I'm sorry (I warned you!). From now on it will be mostly angst and adventure (although you know me - I can't promise no more whump - but I can promise romance). **_

They continued down the long, empty corridors, Reynolds in the lead, followed closely by Teal'c who carried O'Neill. Daniel and Sam made up the rear, both of them on the alert for any more aliens.

"Any ideas of who these people are?" Daniel asked again. He was looking at the walls of the underground facility, as if they would tell him who had done this thing.

"No, I told you, they didn't say anything."

"Then what the hell did they want and what did they do to Jack?"

"I don't know!" she said again. "I wish I did. I've thought and thought but I can't figure it out. They were checking me out but didn't hurt me. I don't know what they wanted with the Colonel."

"Maybe you were next", Daniel hypothesized. At Sam's horrified look he shrugged in apology. "Sorry. I just wish I -" Daniel suddenly stopped dead. He'd seen something out of the corner of his eye. "What the -?"

"Daniel", Sam hissed, as she watched him head towards the wall as the others continued to move ahead.

"I know – I'll just be a -" his voice faded as he stepped up close to the wall where a faint mark could be seen. He reached up and traced it with his finger.

"What is it?" Sam asked, following him to take a look. She squinted at the symbol, her brow furrowed in confusion. "Oh my God – that's -"

"What are you two doing?" Reynolds called down with a stage whisper. "Come _on_!"

Daniel and Sam took one horrified look at each other and then turned and hurried back down the hall. "Sorry", Daniel said softly. "We discovered something."

"Anything we need to know right now?" Reynolds asked.

"No – it can wait."

The Colonel nodded and they once more headed out. Soon they were at the bottom of the stairway leading to the outside.

It took only a few moments until they were up top, to find Sg-5, Bosco and Peterson waiting for them.

"Holly Crap", Major Altman of Sg-5 exclaimed when he caught sight of O'Neill. "What the f-k happened to him?"

"Come on people, let's get a move on. We need to get the Colonel back to the Infirmary", Reynolds snapped. "You'll get the details later."

The teams headed quickly in the direction of the gate, the soldiers all keeping their eyes out for hostiles. "Did you see anyone on your way here?" Reynolds asked Altman.

"No – not a thing. What was down there", he nodded towards the clearing.

"An underground facility. It looks like they were doing experiments of some kind."

"Crap", the Major replied, stealing a look at the unconscious man in Teal'c's arms. "O'Neill looks to be in bad shape." He didn't know O'Neill that well, but was still horrified by the condition he was in. As far as he knew the Colonel was a decent guy and certainly didn't deserve whatever had been done to him.

"Yeah, he is. The Doc'll fix him up."

It was only a few minutes before they arrived at the gate. Daniel stepped forward and quickly dialed, taking one last look at his still unconscious friend. Teal'c had given him a nod, so he knew Jack was still alive, even though he looked like a corpse. He could feel the anger well up inside – and the fear as he thought about what he'd seen on the wall of the facility.

* * *

Hammond was waiting anxiously in the Control room. More than anything he hated these moments. Waiting was always the worse. No, he took that back – there was worse, but he prayed it wasn't going happen this time. He desperately hoped they would find O'Neill and Carter. Two better officers and human beings it would be hard to find and they would be terribly missed if they didn't bring them back.

Dr. Frasier was on call, also waiting anxiously in the Infirmary. She too hoped that her friends and comrades would be found and would return without need of her services. Even if they were wounded it would still be better than the alternative. God – she prayed they were okay.

The entire base was tense, everyone waiting for news of the missing members of Sg-1. Anytime any teams were missing or lost it caused a pall on those remaining Earth-side. The small group of people who knew about the Stargate and who worked at the SGC had formed an unusual family – and they all supported and were there for one another.

It had been two hours since Peterson had come through the gate with the word that they'd found an underground facility and that Reynolds, Teal'c and Dr. Jackson were investigating it. Hammond had quickly gotten Sg-5 together and sent them off as back-up. Since then he'd waited for news.

It was a few moments later when the glyphs began to light up and a few more seconds before Walter announced that the signal was from Sg-5. "They're back Sir."

"Have Dr. Frasier and a medical team here standing by", Hammond called. He had a bad feeling – which he hoped was wrong.

A few more seconds and the event horizon whooshed into existance. Altman and his men walked through almost immediately, followed by Reynolds. There was a brief pause and Teal'c walked through, carrying a body.

Hammond started and immediately headed down into the gate room. He'd recognized that body – it was O'Neill.

"Teal'c!" he called.

"He's alive Sir." Dr. Jackson and Samantha Carter had come through immediately following Teal'c. It was Jackson who had called out to him. "He's hurt but alive."

Just then the doors opened and Janet walked in, followed by a gurney and two of her nurses. "What's going – Sam, you're okay!" she called spying her friend. A second later she saw Teal'c and his burden. "Colonel O'Neill? Lay him on the gurney Teal'c", she said directly, immediately switching to professional mode. "What happened?"

"We don't know Dr. Frasier", Teal'c answered as he gently laid the Colonel down. "We found him strapped to a table. He has remained unconscious."

While the others stood silently Janet did a quick examination of the Colonel. Her frown grew fiercer, but she didn't say anything other than to ask for readings from her nurses. "Let's get him to the Infirmary folks", she said after a brief check. She proceeded to give quick instructions to her nurses on what treatment to begin and immediately followed the gurney.

"Doctor?" Hammond called after her.

Janet turned around, acting almost surprised to see everyone. "I don't know Sir. All I know is he's alive but I need to do further tests. I'll let you know as soon as I find out." She then spied Sam and frowned again. "Major Carter needs to come to be checked out as well."

Hammond nodded. "Dr. Jackson, can you accompany Major Carter. The rest of you are to get your post-mission checks. We'll debrief later." He watched somberly as the teams headed off towards the Infirmary. He was dying of curiosity but knew that right now it was more important that everyone be checked out – and that O'Neill receive immediate care.

It took little time for the Sg teams to be cleared by the medical staff but they were soon gone, leaving only Sg-1 and Reynolds. A little while later Hammond appeared, unable to restrain his worry and curiosity any longer.

"Any news?" he asked Dr. Jackson.

"No Sir. Janet's still in with Jack. We haven't heard anything."

"And Major Carter?"

"Uh – Dr. Warner checked her out. He said she's fine. I think she's just showering and changing."

Hammond nodded and sat down, feeling exhausted with the uncertainty and worry of the last few weeks. "So, what can you tell me about what happened?"

Daniel and Teal'c filled him in on what they'd found. When they told him about Jack they could see the anger grow in the General's eyes.

"What the hell were they doing to him?" he wanted to know.

"We don't know Sir", Daniel answered. He opened his mouth to tell the General the worst when Sam suddenly appeared.

"Major Carter." Hammond stood and approached her. "How are you?"

"I'm fine Sir", she gave him a small smile. "Glad to be back home."

"We're glad to have you back home Major. And you're sure you're alright? Did Dr. Warner say it's okay for you to be up and around."

"Yes Sir. He couldn't find anything wrong with me so he said I could leave. He's recommended that I stay on base for 24 hours though, just to make sure."

Hammond nodded. "Have a seat Major. We're still waiting to hear about Colonel O'Neill. We haven't heard anything yet."

Sam looked worried at that but sat down. Even though the Doctor had cleared her, she still felt tired and emotional. She knew it was just reaction from being held captive, but she hated how nervous and weak she felt.

"So Major, Dr. Jackson was telling me a bit about what happened. What all can you tell me?"

She repeated what she'd told the others about her experience in captivity, adding a few more details but nothing that seemed terribly relevant. "I don't have any idea why they wanted me Sir", she said to the General.

"You said you thought there might have been a few times when you were given something to make you sleep. Any idea why that was?"

"No – no idea Sir. And Dr. Warner couldn't find anything wrong with me. It didn't look as if they'd done any experiments or anything."

"General – there's one more thing", Daniel interrupted at this point. "There's something we haven't told you."

"What is it Dr. Jackson?" Hammond turned to him and felt his stomach clench. Jackson had that look that could only mean something bad.

"We knew right away that the facility was Goa'uld – or at least Teal'c did – but we didn't know _which_ Goa'uld, at least not until we were ready to leave. Sam and I found the Goa'uld's sign on the wall."

"And which Goa'uld was it Dr. Jackson", Hammond asked softly, his body tense.

"Nirti Sir. It was her sign."

* * *

Jack could hear noises around him, and thought that it must be the aliens coming back to do their thing. He immediately forced him mind to move away from the present, reaching out for memories of his son. Abruptly he frowned – something wasn't right. He was pulled back, against his will, to the present. He tried to resist but there was something that kept him from moving back into his mind. It took him a moment to discover – but finally –

It smelled different. That's what it was – the smell. He continued to hear people talking but hadn't paid attention – hadn't let himself listen. Now however, he let his hearing and senses sharpen and center on the present.

"His vital signs are increasing Doctor", someone said. "I think he's regaining consciousness."

"Let's see", another voice answered – a _familiar _voice. "Colonel. Are you awake Sir? Colonel O'Neill, can you hear me?"

Janet – it was Janet Frasier. Was this real? Was he in the Infirmary or was this a trick? It could be – the aliens could be doing something to make him imagine all this. Or then again, maybe it was his own mind. Maybe it had transported him to the SGC as another way to avoid dealing with the reality of his confinement.

Confinement? His head was turned to the side, at least that's what it seemed. But he was strapped in – restrained. His mouth hurt – burned horribly – but it felt like he could close it, something he hadn't been able to do for – forever.

What was this? Was it reality or a dream? He could hear the monitor start to speed up as he began to panic. He didn't know anymore what was real and what was fantasy. He was terrified that it was all still a dream – that he'd wake up still bound and unable to move. He couldn't take this – couldn't be here. He wanted to go back – to go back to his cabin with Charlie and Sara, where he was safe.

"His respiration and heart rate are increasing Doctor", the nurse said, sounding confused and worried.

"What the hell – _Colonel_, relax Sir. You're safe – you're here in the Infirmary." She watched in concern as O'Neill began to moan, the sound eerie in the bright Infirmary room. She instructed her staff to get a sedative and quickly injected it into the Colonel's IV. After a few moments he began to calm down, although his heart rate was still high.

"What the hell is going on?" Janet asked to no one in particular. The strange part of the whole thing was that during the entire episode O'Neill hadn't moved. She was pretty sure he was conscious, but he was acting as if he was still restrained. She cursed silently, wondering at the depth of the trauma the Colonel had experienced. With a sigh she tried again to wake him up.

"Colonel O'Neill. Come on Sir – open your eyes. You're safe here in the Infirmary."

It took a few moments but finally she could see his eyes begin to crack open. He closed them tightly the first time after a couple of seconds, but then tried again a little while later. When they were finally open completely they focused on her face – and he simply stared at her.

"That's it Sir", Janet smiled. "It's good to see those beautiful brown eyes again. You're here Colonel", she repeated. "You're safe. Daniel and Teal'c and Colonel Reynolds found you and brought you back to the SGC. You're going to be fine."

He continued to stare at her, not moving a muscle. It was worrisome so Janet reached up and gently touched his face, stroking it gently. "You're fine", she soothed. "You can move Sir – the restraints are gone."

He blinked once, twice, three times and then his mouth opened slightly and she watched as he licked his lips. "Are you thirsty? Of course you are. Here Sir." She gently lifted his head and held a straw to his lips. "I'm afraid your mouth is going to be sore for a few days so drink carefully."

There was a short pause and then his lips closed around the straw. He sucked on it and immediately his eyes closed as the cool water hit his mouth.

If what Daniel and Teal'c had said was true, he probably hadn't had anything to drink – at least by mouth – for weeks. It made Janet want to scream and hit something. No wonder his mouth was in such rough shape.

The Colonel was extremely malnourished and had lost over twenty pounds. On top of that he had numerous infected sores all over his body, including the ones in his mouth. The skin on his wrists, ankles and neck was rubbed raw and there was deep bruising from where he'd obviously tried to get loose from the bonds that had tied him down.

Other than that there weren't any life-threatening wounds, which was good. There were two things that worried her however, the odd chafing and sores on his genitals and the confusing readings she'd gotten from his blood tests. He'd been given some kind of drug, which were still in his system, but she didn't have a clue what it was or what the effects had been.

Of course more worrisome than the physical symptoms – which she was pretty sure would all go in time – were the emotional and mental ramifications of what had happened to him. Being restrained for weeks, without being able to move, would drive anyone insane. For the Colonel it would have been particularly difficult. He found it hard to stay still at the best of times.

"What did they do to you Sir", she asked quietly as she watched him. At her words his head turned slightly and she started, realizing he'd heard her. She smiled at him. "You're going to be okay Jack", she told him. "Just let us look after you, okay."

He gave a tiny nod and she could see his lips turn up slightly. Thank God – he was still in there.

* * *

"How's he doing Janet?" Daniel stood quickly when the tired looking Doctor came towards them. Hammond and Teal'c also stood, while Sam stayed seated, her face tight with worry.

"He's doing fine – at least physically", she said. "His wounds were superficial and will heal quickly. The worst is his mouth and that will mostly be painful, but not dangerous. He's malnourished and we'll need to get his weight back up. With lots of rest and good food he should be physically back to normal in a few weeks."

"Physically?" Sam was the one who caught what Janet wasn't saying. "How is he – otherwise?"

Janet sighed. "It's hard to say. He hasn't said anything, although he did regain consciousness. Until we know what was done to him it will be hard to tell how he'll recover. The fact that he was tied down – probably for most of the time if not all – will cause enough trauma of its own even if they didn't do anything else to him. He's going to need lots of reassurance and support. Right now he's not even moving."

"He can't move?" Daniela asked, frowning.

"Oh yes, he _can_ move – it's just that he doesn't seem to know it yet. It will take a while for him to feel free, even though he is."

"O'nak ker 'trashak!" growled Teal'c. "They will die for what they have done!"

"I'm with you Teal'c", Daniel whispered. He then looked up at Janet. "Can we see him?"

"He's sleeping now, but I think it would be good if one of his team was with him as much as possible. Try and get him to move. That will help make him realize he's home. I think he doesn't quite believe it yet."

This time it was the General who swore. Sam looked a little surprised to hear Hammond use such language. She also looked like she agreed.

She went to stand up which caused Janet to realize she was there. The Doctor frowned. "Not you Sam – at least not right now. I want you to rest. You can come and see Colonel O'Neill tomorrow."

Sam was almost asleep in the VIP quarters when it suddenly dawned on her that she hadn't called Pete to let him know she was home, and safe. With a sigh she decided it could wait until tomorrow. Within seconds she was out like a light.

* * *

Daniel sat and watched as his friend slept. He still looked like hell, although now that he was cleaned up and wearing a hospital gown he looked marginally better than when they'd found him. His mouth still looked bruised and sore and there were dark circles under his eyes – and his cheeks were sunken and gaunt looking. At least he was breathing and according to Janet would be okay.

As for the trauma – Daniel knew it wasn't going to be easy on Jack – but he also knew if there was anyone who could overcome it, it would be the Colonel. He was as tough as they came.

Teal'c had taken the first shift with Jack while Daniel had gotten some sleep. He'd reported that O'Neill had neither woken nor moved the entire time he was there. Daniel had grimaced and sent Teal'c off to Kel'noreem. He'd then sat down and watched his friend.

It was almost two hours later before Jack began to wake up. By this time Daniel had begun to doze – his head jerking a couple of times as he'd started to sink into sleep. When he heard Jack's soft murmur he'd woken up completely and sat forward.

"Jack", he whispered. A moment later there was another sound from his friend and, without warning, his eyes popped open. His head didn't turn – didn't move – but Jack was suddenly looking at him, his expression not changing.

"Hey Jack", he said softly. "Nice to see you. We missed you."

Jack simply stared so Daniel began to speak quietly. "We tried looking for you and Sam immediately, but couldn't find you. I'm sorry it took so long. Please believe me that we looked everywhere."

Jack blinked and continued to stare, but now there was a faint frown line between his brows. He looked as if he wanted to speak, but didn't quite know how.

"What is it?" Daniel asked. "Is there something you need?"

Jack licked his lips, seeming almost surprised at the ability to do so. Finally he opened his mouth and attempted to speak. When nothing came out he closed his eyes in frustration.

"I'm sorry Jack – here." He held up the glass of water with the straw in it. "Your throat's probably dry. Have a drink and it'll be easier to talk."

This time Jack actually lifted his head himself, his eyebrows moving up as he did so. He took a few sips of water and then laid down again. "Sam?" he whispered, managing to croak out the one word.

Daniel could have kicked himself. Probably no one had bothered to tell him what had happened to her. "She's fine Jack. The aliens didn't hurt her at all. They simply kept her in a room but she said they treated her okay. She's sleeping right now but she's coming by in the morning to see you."

Jack nodded – a real one this time and gave a slight smile. "Good", he whispered.

"Are you going to be okay?" Daniel asked, looking worriedly at his friend.

Jack shrugged but at Daniel's looked rolled his eyes. "You – know me", he managed to get out. "I'm – fine."

"Right", Daniel snorted. "You are not fine – but you will be, I promise. Just rest and take it easy and everything will be okay."

As Daniel watched Jack fall back asleep he wondered briefly about Nirti and her underground lab – and hoped that his words to Jack would come true.


	4. Samples

Daniel heard a strange noise coming from Jack's room and hurried to the door. Just as he arrived he heard panicked swearing from the Colonel. He quickly pushed open the door to see the still sick man struggling with his sheets.

"What's wrong Jack?" he asked worriedly, hurrying over to the bed.

"Get – off!" Jack said frantically. He was sweating and had a wild eyed look in his eyes.

"Get what off?" Daniel looked around but couldn't see anything – only his friend frantically pushing at the bedcovers.

"Sheets! Get – them – off!"

Daniel frowned but quickly reached and pulled the sheets off from around the older man. They were damp and all tangled up so it took him a few moments, during which time the Colonel continued to struggle. "There – all off." He again regarded his friend, who had laid back and was breathing in short, painful gasps. "You okay?"

Jack grunted, but didn't say anything. His eyes were closed and heavy frown lines marred his forehead. It took Daniel a moment before realizing that the Colonel must have panicked at feeling restrained by the sheets.

He'd been back for three days and in that time had grown slowly stronger. Janet had fed him as much as she could, although his appetite hadn't returned fully. She'd contemplated supplementing his diet by inserting a naso-gastric tube, but the Colonel had nixed that pretty quickly by looking completely and absolutely terrified at the idea. In the end she'd enlisted Daniel and Teal'c in her efforts to feed the still traumatized Colonel.

Jack hadn't said much so far – he only answered simple questions and then would turn over, presenting his back to his teammates. He had initially been too weak to even move, but with his strength returning everyone knew it wouldn't be long before he tried to make a break out of the Infirmary.

The effects of his incarceration had brought on nightmares and moments of panic when he imagined he was being restrained. The episode of the sheets showed Daniel that his friend was still had a ways to go in his recuperation. He wished there was more he could do, but other than offering support by his presence, there wasn't much he _could_ do.

"Hungry?" he finally asked. The snort from the Colonel told him the answer to that question, but he knew he couldn't leave it there. With a sigh he reached into his pocket and pulled out a chocolate bar. "I brought you chocolate", he tempted the man in the bed. "Really, really _good_ chocolate."

When there was no reply he sighed again and pulled up a chair. "Okay, I'll eat it then." He proceeded to pull off the wrapper and take a bite. He noticed Jack's eyes on the candy and stopped himself from grinning. "You sure -?"

"Hell – give it to me", Jack reached out his hand and took what was left of the chocolate bar. He took a bite and glared at his friend at the same time. "I'm gonna get fat", he groused.

Daniel did grin at that. "I think you have a ways to go before that. According to Janet you're still underweight."

"Hah!" he said sharply. "She's just fattening me up for the slaughter."

Daniel's eyebrows went up. "The _slaughter_?"

"Yeah – she's wants me to go to see Mackenzie."

"And you call that _slaughter_?" Daniel laughed.

"Well, almost as bad. I _don't_ need a shrink."

Again Daniel's eyebrows went up, although he didn't say anything. His expression must have spoken volumes though because Jack scowled and took another bite of chocolate. "I _don't_", he repeated. "I can deal with this just fine."

"Deal with what?" Daniel asked innocently.

"You know", the Colonel said, sounding as if the words were forced from him. When Daniel didn't answer, but continued to look at him speculatively, Jack began to get antsy. "This whole – thing."

"Thing? You mean the fact that you were held captive for almost three weeks, tied to a metal table and tortured? You mean _that_ thing?"

"They didn't torture me", Jack said softly, refusing to look at the younger man.

"Really? Cause I'd say that keeping a man gagged and bound and injecting him with something was pretty close to torture. But maybe I'm wrong." Daniel was speaking softly now, worried that maybe he was going too far. Jack had refused to say anything to anybody about what had happened to him and they were all worried. Janet had agreed that maybe Daniel could try and get something out of him.

Well, it obviously wasn't working, he sighed. Jack was sitting up and had turned his legs to hang over the side of the bed. Daniel frowned. "What are you doing? Janet says you're not ready to get up."

"How does she know?" Jack asked sarcastically. "It's my body. I should know when I can", he slowly slid off the side of the bed, holding onto the mattress, "move – ooph!" He landed on his feet and would have fallen over if Daniel hadn't rushed to his side and grabbed him.

"I think Janet may have been right Jack. You're not strong enough for this. She said it would take time to get your muscles back in shape. You couldn't move for three weeks and you're -"

"I _know!_" Jack practically shouted. "I was there okay? I know what they did but I refuse to let the bastards keep me down. Don't you understand Daniel? I need to get the hell out of here. I need to _move_!"

It was only then that Daniel truly realized what kind of shape the Colonel was in. He was leaning up against the bed, Daniel's arms keeping him from collapsing, and he was looking both frightened and angry. He also looked like he wanted to crawl out of his skin.

He really didn't know what to do to help this time, but knew he had to say something. Just as he opened his mouth the door to Jack's room opened.

"Sir?" Sam took a step into the room, looking in concern at her Commander, dressed only in a skimpy hospital robe, hanging onto Daniel and his bed for dear life. "Uh – can I help?"

"Yeah – help me get him back to bed", Daniel panted. Even though Jack had lost weight he was still a big man and Daniel had been holding him up for minutes now.

"No! I'm fine. I don't need help. I can do this – myself."

"Really? Okay then." Daniel let go of the Colonel and stepped back. He winced as he watched Jack fall to the floor, his robe pulling up so that his bare backside was in plain view.

"What the hell did you do that for!" shouted the Colonel, desperately trying to pull the robe down. He glanced quickly at Carter, to see her looking at him in concern. Fortunately her eyes seemed to be on his face. "I'm fine Carter – you can go now."

This time she raised her eyebrow – what was it with the damned eyebrows today, thought Jack.

"You said you didn't need our help so I let you go", Daniel said calmly. "Or do you need my help after all?"

Since Jack was stuck – not having the strength in his arms to pull himself up – he scowled again at Daniel. "Yes", was all he said.

Daniel gave a small grin and bent over and helped the Colonel to his feet and then onto the bed. "Do you want the sheets?"

Jack closed his eyes briefly, feeling panicky. He hated the feeling of something on top of him, limiting his movement, but at the same time didn't like having his legs hanging out for Carter to see, especially since the robe was so short.

"Fine", he said shortly. He allowed Daniel to pull the sheet up to his waist, but he made sure it was lose and easy to move.

"Uh – how are you doing Sir?" Carter finally asked, once he was settled. He looked at her incredulously, marveling at her calm demeanor. For some reason – even though he was generally feeling like crap – he suddenly saw the funny side of what had just happened and began to laugh.

"I'm – I'm _fine_ Carter", he choked out. "Just went for a little trip to the floor – nice view down there you know."

She slowly grinned, loving the fact that the Colonel seemed to be his old self. "Yes, I've got to say it _was_ quite a view Sir."

Jack stopped laughing and looked at her suspiciously, his eyes narrowed. "You looked Carter!"

"At what Sir?" she said innocently.

"At –", he paused. "Nothing. Bring any cake?" For the next few moments he teased his teammates, not because he was actually feeling that much better, but he wanted them to stop worrying about him, which he knew they were. Although now that he thought about it, Daniel hadn't particularly shown concern. What was the space monkey up to, he wondered, staring at him briefly.

"What?" the archaeologist, genius and general pain in the butt asked innocently.

"Frasier put you up to this, didn't she?" he asked. Daniel simply grinned.

* * *

"Anything?" the good doctor asked later when talking to the three mobile members of Sg-1 over lunch.

"No", Daniel sighed. "He still isn't talking about anything that happened, but he did seem a bit better today. He actually laughed and talked to us."

"He laughed?" Janet said in surprise. "What brought that on?"

"Well", Sam looked slightly embarrassed. "He uh – tried to get out of bed and fell to the floor. His robe kind of – well – I saw – or pretended that I'd seen - and he thought it was funny."

Teal'c stared at her with his inscrutable Jaffa look while Frasier simply shook her head. "I'll never understand you guys. Did you say he tried to get up?" she asked as if she'd suddenly heard what Sam had said.

"Yes", Daniel admitted. "I tried to stop him but he insisted on trying."

"Good", Janet answered. "I've been waiting for that. It means he's on the mend."

"You've been _waiting_? I thought you said he wasn't ready to walk around", Daniel groused.

Janet grinned and waggled her eyebrows. "That's what I told him. It's the surest way to make him try it, which is what we want. He needs to regain strength in his muscles, and he needs to move around. He's still dealing with the shock of being restrained so long."

* * *

While his friends were talking about him Jack was lying there reliving some of the memories of the last few weeks. He'd ignored, as much as possible, what had been done to him, but knew he couldn't leave it for that much longer. Now that he was feeling better physically – although still with a long way to go – he could begin to deal intellectually with what had happened.

He knew he was going to have to tell Janet and Hammond what they'd done – the fact that they'd spent days collecting his sperm. He didn't know why, but he knew it couldn't be for any good reason – not if they were Goa'uld which is what Daniel had said. Even worse, he'd said that they'd found Nirti's sign – one of his least loved of the snakes. He'd protested that she was dead, but Daniel had pointed out that her servants may not know that – or that she had an underling Goa'uld who was continuing her work. Whatever it was, he knew he'd have to return and make sure that all the – samples – were destroyed.

He snorted when he thought of the terrible comments he'd get if any of the marines heard about this one – or if they were involved in the 'search and destroy' mission. Yeah right – like there was any way he was going to tell them they were on the hunt for Jack O'Neill sperm. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, feeling both slightly amused – and yet still feeling traumatized by the whole thing.

"Doc", he said softly when she walked into his room later that afternoon. "I need to tell you something."

"Okay Colonel", she looked at him in surprise. "What is it?"

"Uh – could you close the door? I don't want anyone else to hear this."

"Alright. Just give me a moment and I'll tell my nurses not to disturb us." She was gone for a couple of minutes and then returned, closing the door behind her. She walked up to his bed and gently touched his hand. "What is it?"

Jack took a deep breath and looked her right in the eye. "It was about what they did to me."

"Yes", she said gently.

"Well – you know they tied me up? They had me hooked up to some kind of IV and gave me regular doses of some kind of – stimulant."

"Stimulant?" she repeated, waiting for more information. "Do you have any idea what kind?"

"Not as far as what was in it but – what it did – yeah." He stopped and looked away. After a moment he leaned back and closed his eyes.

Janet wondered if he was actually going to tell her the rest or if that was it. "Colonel?" she asked gently.

He took another deep breath and his eyes popped open. "It was kind of – like – you know, Viagra." There – hopefully that was enough to make her understand.

She frowned for a moment and then her expression cleared. "You mean a sexual stimulant?"

"Yeah, that", he said, again looking down and beginning to play with the sheet. "It caused me to – uh – you know."

"Have an erection?"

He nodded. "Uh huh – it felt awful."

She was surprised at that but didn't say anything, simply waited for him to continue.

"It wasn't like – you know – a normal one. I felt like I was going to explode." He stopped, giving a half laugh when he realized how that sounded. "I mean – like blow apart – not a normal – explosion." He grimaced, feeling horribly uncomfortable with this whole discussion.

"I see – it was more intense than normal?"

He nodded. "Yes – and painful."

"So what happened?" She kept her voice as clinical and detached as possible, even though inside she was horrified. What the hell were they doing with him?

"You know – the usual - climax. They collected the uh -"

"Sperm?"

"Yeah. And they kept coming back every few hours for more, the whole time I was there." He suddenly sounded exhausted and hurt. She wanted to reach out and hug him, but knew now wasn't the right time. "At the end though, it stopped working. I couldn't – it didn't work." There was another pause and then he looked at her, pain and – something else in his eyes. "Do you think it's – permanent?"

Oh shit! She wanted to be able to tell him quickly and positively that no, it was just temporary because he'd been hurt and was recuperating – but she couldn't, because she didn't know. The drugs may have caused permanent harm, although at this point it was too early to say.

"Sir – you're still recuperating and I'm sure things will get back to normal eventually. Don't worry about it for now. If you're still worried in a week or so we'll check things out, okay?"

He nodded, although didn't look terribly relieved. Janet knew how terrifying this would be for a man.

"So – any idea why they were taking – samples?" she finally asked.

"No. But we have to go back and destroy them. I don't want the Goa'uld to have – bits of me."

Janet nodded, knowing the Colonel was right. "Did you want me to tell General Hammond what happened? He'll send an SG team to investigate, I'm sure."

"Please", he nodded. "I really don't want to tell him –" he shrugged and looked sheepish.

"Not the kind of conversation to have with your commanding officer?" she said with a gentle smile.

"No", he laughed. "Thanks Doc – I – it was hard enough to tell you."

She patted his arm affectionately. "I'm your doctor Jack – so don't worry about it. I feel badly that you had to go through that, but I'm sure you'll be fine. Just rest now and I'll speak to the General."

She watched as he settled back in and closed his eyes. Once she was sure he was sleeping she made her way out of the room and headed for the phone to arrange a meeting with General Hammond. He was not going to like what she had to say. At least now, she thought as she walked to her office, she knew what had caused the chaffing. God – the poor man.

* * *

General Hammond held a briefing the next day and Jack – after harassing Janet – was allowed to attend.

"Only if you agree to take a wheelchair Colonel", Janet laid down the law. "Teal'c or Daniel can push you."

He pouted but eventually agreed, although in the end it was Carter who pushed him. "You push better Major", he told her. "Daniel walks me into walls and Teal'c hits every bump."

Daniel protested vehemently that he'd never pushed anyone into a wall and Teal'c simply ignored his comment. Jack smirked as Carter wheeled him to the elevator, followed by his team and Janet.

Jack knew this was going to be an uncomfortable discussion although the General, to give him credit, had kept everyone out of the briefing except Sg-1, the doctor and Reynolds. The Colonel agreed that he'd keep everything confidential, although he looked curiously at Jack.

Jack himself was feeling nervous and fidgety and he wanted to get up and run out of the SGC and keep running until he reached his cabin. He knew he was still too weak, but he also knew he had to do something before he went crazy.

"Colonel – did you want me to tell everyone what happened to you on the planet or do you?"

Jack struggled with that for a moment, although he hoped he appeared calm. "Uh – you can tell them Sir", he finally said. He was going to be embarrassed, he knew, but it was better than trying to talk about the aliens giving him erections and collecting his sperm.

"We believe the reason the Colonel was held, was in order to collect his DNA", Hammond said clearly and concisely. "According to Dr. Frasier, he was given some kind of drug – it's still being analyzed– in order for them to collect sperm."

There – that wasn't so bad, was it O'Neill? He looked down at his hands as they fiddled with a pencil. He refused to look up although he could feel all eyes on him.

"Do we know what for?" Sam asked, sounding nothing but professional.

"No", he answered briefly. "But we have to return and destroy the samples."

"The room", Daniel said, looking at Teal'c and Reynolds.

"I believe you are correct", Teal'c agreed.

"The room? What are you referring to Dr. Jackson?", Hammond asked.

"When we were looking for Jack and Sam we came across a room – a storage room. Inside there were a number of metal cylinders and they were obviously keeping something cold, or frozen."

"Did you look inside?" the general wanted to know.

"We did not", Teal'c answered. "We believed that whatever was inside could be dangerous and our first responsibility was to locate Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter."

"Killer sperm", Jack muttered.

"Colonel?" Hammond looked at him inquiringly.

"Uh – nothing Sir. Teal'c just said it could be dangerous."

"Killer _sperm_?" Daniel whispered incredulously. Jack simply shrugged.

"So you think this is where the – samples – were kept?" Hammond ignored the comments from the two, although his lips twitched.

"Seems logical Sir", Reynolds chimed in. "The cylinders did look - medical."

"I see. So – I should send a team back and make sure they're all destroyed?"

"Sir", Sam's voice stopped everyone. Jack looked up, surprised by the tone of her voice. She sounded – tense, which wasn't like Carter.

"Carter?" he asked softly, looking at her in concern.

"Uh – I'm just wondering – if they did that to Colonel O'Neill, what about me?" She looked over at the Doctor.

"According to you and Dr. Frasier nothing was done to you", Hammond said, looking back and forth between the two.

Janet looked puzzled for a moment but then her expression changed. "Crap!"

"Doctor?" Hammond said, now sounding worried.

"Well, it's impossible to say for sure, but Major Carter did indicate that she woke up a couple of times from what she thought may have been a drug-induced sleep and that her stomach was tender."

"Meaning what?" O'Neill snapped.

"Well, as I said, I don't know for sure, but it could mean that they collected something from her as well."

"Something?" Jack said, although he was pretty sure he knew what she was going to say.

"Her eggs Colonel."

Everyone stared at the Doctor, most of them looking blank except for the Colonel, who looked furious, and Sam herself who had gone pale. It was O'Neill who finally spoke.

"We have to go back now Sir", he said softly. "We need to get those cylinders."

Hammond looked at his people and nodded. "We'll get them Colonel, Major Carter. We'll damn well get them!"


	5. Creating Hak'tar

Jack worried from the moment Sg-3 along with Teal'c and Daniel had gone back to the planet. He knew logically that he couldn't have gone with them – he wasn't up to it yet. Still, he hated feeling so helpless, especially when this was a mission that concerned him so directly.

He really wished he could figure out what Nirrti's people – damn sycophants – wanted with his sperm. He knew she'd had an obsession with creating a Hok'tar and he somehow figured this was related to that. He just prayed that the plan hadn't been to use his sperm to create hosts. He couldn't imagine what he'd do if his own children were the enemy.

And then there was Carter. He didn't like to think about the possibility that they'd harvested her eggs. That really brought up all sorts of problems and ideas he'd really rather not deal with. His relationship with her had always been rather complicated and it didn't need – this – to make it worse.

He wondered briefly where she was, but then realized he didn't need to wonder. "She's with her boyfriend, you idiot", he scolded himself. In fact Pete Shanahan was her fiancé now – something he _really_ avoided thinking about. He was happy for her – sort of – but that didn't mean he wanted to think about the guy – or see him, or talk to him, or go to their wedding, or have anything to do with him _ever_. He had decided a long time ago to ignore anything and everything that had to do with Carter and other – ur – men or aliens, or any of the myriad species who routinely fell in love with her_._

He sighed and swung his legs back and forth over the side of the bed. He was getting stronger and could actually stand for brief moments at a time. He was healthier, was putting on weight and was watching as the bruises and lesions left. Even his mouth was less tender, which he was heartily thankful for. It had been about to drive him crazy. The one thing that didn't seem to want to go away were the nightmares and feelings of panic – and sometimes downright terror. Sleeping was almost impossible although he hadn't told Janet that. He knew she'd just want him to get help or take another pill, neither of which option appealed. The problem was, every time he closed his eyes he imagined being strapped down to that damn table and being injected with good old super-viagra.

He finally decided he needed to get up and move around before he went crazy. Maybe that would take his mind off Carter and old Petey boy. God – couldn't she at least have met someone with a decent name? _Pete_ for God's sake.

* * *

Sam was presently curled up against Pete, almost asleep beside him on the couch. He was watching the game – the volume turned down low – and she was trying to relax. It had been a stressful few days – hell, _weeks_ and she was just now getting back to feeling normal. At least she had been until the whole aliens stealing her eggs thing had come up.

She didn't know for sure, but she had a definite feeling that she and Janet were right and they had stolen them. If that was the case, she just prayed Sg3 would find them in the cylinders and destroy them. She had briefly worried about pregnancy – thinking they may have implanted something in her – but according to Janet – and half a dozen pregnancy tests – she wasn't. Her relief had been short-lived when Janet had commented that it could still be too early to tell.

And wouldn't _that_ screw up her life, she thought. She glanced over at the man at her side and couldn't help but flinch. There's no way he would accept that she was pregnant with anyone else's child – _especially _if that child's father was – no – there was no way and she wasn't even going to think about it. She was _not_ pregnant and wasn't going to be any time soon.

That made her think about Pete again and it suddenly dawned on her that she'd never really pictured herself having a child with him. She frowned slightly, wondering if it was because she just didn't want children at all, or whether it was him.

She shied away from that thought. She loved him. Of _course_ she would want children with him. She adored Cassie and if it hadn't been for her job she would have adopted the young girl. No, it was just that she wasn't quite ready for motherhood. She was sure that when she was she'd be happy to have children with Pete.

She ignored the small voice which told her she didn't have a lot of years left. The clock was ticking and if she didn't want them now – would she really want them later?

"Okay Hon?" Pete asked suddenly, a commercial interrupting the game. "Need anything?"

"No", she answered softly. "Just lying here feels nice."

"Good", he answered, not looking at her. He took a handful of potato chips and munched down on them contentedly, seemingly unaware of the turmoil of the woman at his side. Sam had a fleeting thought that it wouldn't be long before Pete started to put on weight. It would make him look even shorter, she sighed. Shen then immediately felt guilty for even thinking such a thing. What did it matter if he was shorter than her? He was a good man and that's all that was important.

But the Colonel is taller than you, a voice in her head said, and you like that. He always makes you feel safe and your head fits perfectly on his shoulder. And just think of what your chil - _stop_ _it_ Sam, she said angrily to herself. The last thing she needed was to be thinking about the Colonel or children when she was sitting right beside a good man who loved her.

"Anything exiting happen while you were gone?" Pete asked. He knew she'd been on an off-world mission, but knew nothing about her captivity. She shouldn't mind, but an errant thought reminded her that Jack would know without her telling him. He always knew when something was wrong and made sure she was okay.

Instantly she lost Pete's attention as he became immersed in the game once more. She debated answering his question, but one look at his face showed that he was totally engrossed in hockey and wouldn't welcome her comments or interruptions.

She sighed and settled back, figuring watching the game was better than trying to converse with the man who was soon to be her husband. She wondered briefly if this was a picture of what her life was to be like in the future.

* * *

The facility appeared deserted when Sg3 and Daniel and Teal'c arrived. Although to be fair, thought Daniel, it had seemed that way the first time as well. It was very obvious that there weren't many people left here unless they had all been hiding out on the previous visit.

"Down this way", indicated Reynolds, pointing down the corridor where they'd found the cylinders. Daniel nodded and followed close behind. Teal'c came up behind him while this Peterson and Bosco stayed back.

They were nearing the end of the corridor when suddenly a door opened and one of the short aliens hurried out. He immediately saw the intruders and let out a short cry. Turning on his heel he re-entered the room he'd just left, slamming the door quickly behind him.

"Let's go", Reynolds called. The three men rushed ahead but by the time they got to the door it was firmly shut and locked.

"Let me", Teal'c said solemnly. He stepped forward and let off one short burst of his staff weapon. The handle broke and the door slowly swung open.

"Watch yourselves folks", Reynolds told them, entering the room cautiously, his P-90 leading the way.

In the corner was the alien, cowering down and trying to blend in with the rest of the room. Reynolds and Teal'c scanned the room quickly, ensuring that there was no one else present. Daniel stood staring at the array of items in the room.

"This is a lab", he said. "What the hell were they doing in here?"

The Colonel approached the alien cautiously, waving at him with his weapon and telling him to stand. Although the cowering man didn't understand the words, he understood the meaning and instantly stood.

He began to jabber in a language none of the others knew. Daniel tried – and failed – to make himself understood and he certainly didn't understand any of the alien's words. "It's a language I've not heard before", he told his companions. "It'll take me a while to work out what he's saying."

At that Teal'c stepped forward and began to speak in Goa'uld. The little man looked shocked but immediately nodded and replied.

"Okay, that confirms that a Goa'uld was here, at some time", Reynolds said in an aside to Daniel. "Uh Teal'c – what's he saying?" Daniel too looked at Teal'c for the translation. His Goa'uld was pretty good, but the dialect that the man was speaking was hard for him to understand. That was made worse by the fact that the guy was so frightened he could barely get any words out at all. Teal'c seemed to do a much better job so he left him to it.

"His name is Traenda and he informs me that he worships the goddess Nirrti and is here working in her service."

"Nirrti eh? I guess you were right Dr. Jackson. Uh, is she here?"

"She is dead Colonel Reynolds", Teal'c informed him. He then refocused his attention on the alien and spoke a few more brief words.

"He says that her servant Ra'mash was here and made sure they continued to carry out her wishes."

"Which are?" Daniel asked.

Teal'c spoke to him again, the only indication of anything being amiss was the eyebrow, which lifted up during the middle of the man's recitation.

"What's he saying Teal'c?" Reynolds was getting impatient, wanting to get this job over with and get home. He found the place creepy in the extreme, especially after what had been done to Jack.

Teal'c took a deep breath as if he was trying to calm himself down. Daniel stared at him in surprise. It took a lot to upset his friend. "Teal'c?"

"We were correct. They collected O'Neill's sperm and froze it. The plan was to impregnate slave women and create hosts. When O'Neill was captured they believed they had been blessed by the goddess. They have been waiting many years in order to fulfill her wishes to create hosts from humans from Earth." He paused and took another breath and his nostrils flared. "They also collected eggs from Major Carter." He stopped and glared down at the alien, who cowered in fear.

"What for?" Daniel was frowning, still wondering at Teal'c's anger. They'd suspected this is what had happened so the alien must have said something else. "What were they planning to do with them?"

"They were not planning", Teal'c informed them. "They did what they set out to do – at least part of it."

"Which was?" Reynolds asked, finally seeming to notice Tea'c's mood.

"To create human embryos. They fertilized some of Major Carter's eggs and were planning on implanting them and creating Hok'tar's."

The silence was deafening until Daniel managed to speak. "Fertilized _how_?"

Teal'c asked the little man, speaking again in Goa'uld. "They did it here in this laboratory", he told his human companions.

"No, I mean - uh – what sperm did they use?"

Teal'c stared for a moment and then bowed his head. When he looked up again he faced the alien and spoke. The man replied and then Teal'c turned around and spoke, looking even more somber than normal.

"Don't tell me", Daniel interrupted, his hand up. "Jack's."

"Indeed", Teal'c nodded, looking anything but happy.

"Shit!" Reynolds exclaimed, with that one word vocalizing how they all felt. "We'll just have to bloody well find them and – uh , take them back to the SGC." Reynolds didn't want to even _suggest_ destroying them. It was one thing to blast away a sperm bank – but embryos were a totally different thing. "I suggest we go and find them and get the hell out of here."

Teal'c grabbed the alien, obviously having difficulty restraining himself from not choking the life out of him. As they headed towards the room with the cylinders, Teal'c continued to interrogate Traenda and translate for his companions. "There were only four of them here", he said, "and we killed two of them on our previous visit", he told his companions. "They were waiting for Nirrti to return."

"How long has it been?"

Teal'c asked the question and the little alien answered in just a few words. "Twelve years", he informed them.

"Wow – that's loyalty for you", Daniel whistled.

"It is foolishness", uttered the former First Prime of Apophis, his voice oozing contempt.

Upon entering the small room with the storage containers it was obvious that someone had been there before them. Of the four containers that had been here the last time, there were three remaining – and they had all been destroyed.

"Uh – weren't there four of these?" Reynolds asked, looking at the wreckage in front of him.

"Yes there were", Teal'c answered. He walked up to Traenda and grabbed the front of his shirt. Speaking softly, he held the terrified man immobile. The alien began to splutter, his words practically running over one another in his fear.

"What did he say?" Reynolds asked, without sympathy

"After we helped Major Carter and O'Neill escape they knew we would return once we discovered why they had been held. Traenda remained behind and as soon as we came through the gate began to destroy everything that was left. Nirrti's deputy Ra'mash, had already gone through the gate to another world."

"Why?" Daniel asked softly.

Teal'c's eyes met his – and Daniel instantly knew. "He took the embryos with him?"

Teal'c nodded. "Yes and he plans to implant them in the wombs of slave women."

Both Reynolds and Daniel looked horrified but didn't know what to say or do. After a few seconds it was Reynolds who thought to ask an important question. "How many?"

"Embryos?" Teal'c replied. Upon the Colonel's nod he spoke to Traenda, who answered with one word in Goa'uld.

Daniel understood that one word and closed his eyes. "Six", he said softly. "Ah hell, what are we going to tell Jack and Sam?"


	6. DNA DNA Trouble

_**You know, of course, that I deserve brownie points for posting two chapters in one evening? This is to thank my lovely reviewers.**_

Daniel walked in the room to find Jack trying to read a book. He stopped in surprise. He knew Jack wasn't stupid, had seen the wide array of books on his shelves at his house, but he was pretty sure he'd never actually _seen_ the man reading a book.

"What are you doing?" he asked sharply.

Jack lifted his eyes from the page and stared for a moment at the younger man. He then pointedly looked down at his book and back up. "Uh – reading?"

"I know – I mean – _what_ are you reading and why?"

"A book and I'm bored."

"Oh." Daniel frowned again, feeling as if the world was somehow out of kilter.

Jack sighed and put the book on his night table. It's not as if he was actually getting anything out of the damn thing anyway. He'd asked the nurse for something to keep him occupied while he waited for word from his two teammates and Sg3. Instead of a TV she'd brought in a bunch of books. He didn't mind really, except for the fact that it would spoil his dumb Colonel image.

He sighed again and finally asked the question that had been burning in his throat. "So? Did you find – anything?"

Daniel grimaced, which wasn't a good sign. Jack suddenly wondered where the others were and realized, with a sinking stomach, that Daniel must have been sent in as the messenger. "It's bad news, isn't it?" he asked his friend.

"Well – kind of – sort of", Daniel waffled. "I mean – the containers with your – uh -"

"DNA?" Jack said, his voice heavy with irony.

"Yeah, that. Well, they were destroyed."

"All of them?"

"Yes, according to Traenda."

"And that is?"

"One of the aliens who held you captive."

"Oh. I hope Teal'c strangled him!"

"He almost did but Reynolds discouraged it. Said there'd be too much paper work."

Jack snorted. "So – what's the bad news? I mean, if they got all my – DNA", he stopped. "Sam?"

"Yeah – that's part of it – sort of."

"Daniel, will you stop with the 'sort of's' and just tell me what the hell is going on!"

"Sorry", he grimaced again. "They did collect eggs from Sam – I really can't believe I'm even _saying_ that", he muttered. "Their plan was to use your – uh – stuff and impregnate slave women to make hosts."

"How nice", Jack said sarcastically. "And the eggs?"

"Well, you know Nirrti. She had this thing about creating Hok'tar – perfect human hosts."

"I know what Hok'tar are. So – she, or her servants, decided to use Sam's uh – eggs?"

"Yeah, but I'm afraid that's not all."

Jack's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Well, they actually got around to _fertilizing _them."

"Fert – you mean her _eggs_?" Jack shook his head. Daniel was right – it was really weird to be talking about this.

"Yes."

Jack was silent and Daniel could see his mental wheels spinning. "They fertilized her eggs. Can I ask – _should_ I ask what they used."

Daniel bit his lip, his expression telling the full story.

"Shit!" O'Neill swore. "You're telling me that they used my – to fertilize her – God damn it! Teal'c should have strangled them – all of them!" He turned restlessly until he was sitting on the edge of the bed. He really wanted to get up and start breaking things, preferably the neck of every Goa'uld in existence. "So what does that mean?" he finally asked.

"Well, according to Traenda they fertilized six eggs and so there are now six embryos."

Jack got a really strange feeling in his gut at Daniel's words. Talking about sperm and eggs and embryos kept things in the realm of science and sick alien experiments. But if he really thought about it – if he let it into his mind in any real way – he knew he'd be thinking about the fact that there were six potential _children_ out there – his and Carter's.

"Jack?" Daniel's voice interrupted his thoughts and he focused on his friend.

"So – did you – get them?" Jack asked hopefully.

"Uh no. That's kind of the problem."

Jack scowled at him. "The _problem_? What kind of problem? Why didn't you just bring them back?" Of course that now left the issue of what the hell to do with them. God – this is something he never would have imagined in a million years.

"We couldn't."

"You _couldn't_? Why not?"

"They're uh – gone. One of the aliens escaped with them before we got there. I guess he thought he was doing Nirrti's will."

"He _escaped_!" Jack whispered. He peered at Daniel in shock. "With the embryos?"

"Yeah, I'm afraid so."

"And what's he going to do with them?" But of course he didn't really have to ask. He knew.

"He's going to find someone - six women I guess, probably slaves, and implant them. He plans to help create Hok'tars for his goddess."

* * *

"_Colonel_! What are you doing Sir?" Janet looked at the man who was attempting to stand and get dressed. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Out of here", he answered shortly. Daniel was standing against the wall, looking helpless and worried.

"Colonel, you can't. You're not well enough."

"Doesn't matter", he answered, buttoning his shirt. "Does Carter know?" he asked Daniel.

"No, not yet. She wasn't on base. Hammond sent for her and she should be here shortly."

"What's going on?" Janet was looking between the two men, seeming to realize that something had happened. She still didn't like the fact that the Colonel was planning to leave, but knew better than to try to stop him – not when he had _that_ expression on his face. General Hammond was the only one who could deal with the Colonel when he was in this mood.

"Uh –" Daniel looked at Jack and when he received a short nod he continued. "It looks like the aliens took Jack's – uh"

"They used my sperm to fertilize Carter's eggs", O'Neill interrupted tersely. "They created six embryos and escaped off the planet to go and implant them in various women."

"Oh my God", Janet held her hand up to her mouth. "What – "?

"I don't know Doc", Jack answered, suddenly sounding tired. "All I know is we have to find them. There's no way in hell any kid of mine is going to be host to some god-damned Goa'uld!"

"No, of course not." Janet stood, looking stunned. "And Sam doesn't know yet?" she asked Daniel.

He shook his head. "And I don't really want to be the one to tell her." He glanced at Jack who nodded.

"I'll tell her", he said. He got a strange look on his face. "Since it looks like we might be parents together."

"Sir, it's still early. There's lots of time to find them and -"

"And what Doc? What do we do if – _when_ – we find them?" He turned anguished eyes on her and she winced.

God – this had to be horrible for the man. She suddenly thought of the son he'd lost and knew this must be bringing up all sorts of thoughts and feelings. On top of that was the whole – thing – between the two officers; the thing known but never mentioned. She rubbed her hands through her hair. "If there's anything I can do Sir -", she let the rest of the sentence hang.

He nodded. "Thanks – but for now there's really nothing, except to be there for Carter. Later – I don't know."

She gave him a gentle look. "Later – I'll be there for both of you Sir."

He smiled gratefully at her and then motioned to Daniel. "Help me out of here Daniel. We've got to go see the General."

Janet watched as the Colonel limped away, leaning heavily on the arm of his friend. "Oh Colonel", she said softly. "You don't deserve this!"

* * *

Sam knew something was wrong as soon as she got the phone call from Walter that the General wanted to see her. She'd hoped that Daniel and the others would return and say everything was fine and that they could forget the whole incident. Realistically though, she'd known it couldn't be that simple. Of _course_ something had to go wrong. It always did whenever it involved the Colonel and her.

She gave Pete a light kiss goodbye and shut her ears to his loud complaining. He hated the fact that she had to jump when called and go to work. Of course he didn't say anything when it was _him_ who was called in for an emergency. For the first time she felt a small bit of resentment towards the man she was going to marry. She wondered if he truly had any idea of what she did and how important it was.

"I told you, I don't _know_ Pete. The Sergeant didn't tell me anything – he just said the General needed to see me right away."

"We're not about to be attacked by aliens or anything, are we?" he asked, a frown on his face.

"I'm sure we're not", she almost groaned, "although it is a possibility." That was mean she knew, as soon as she saw him blanch. She just got so tired of his constant quips about her work. "I expect it's simply that something's not working right and they want me to check it over."

"Why does it have to be you? I mean, you go on missions for weeks at a time, do experiments on the stuff you bring back _plus_ they have you doing repair work. You need a raise babe – or a new job."

"I only help out occasionally and I love my job – you know that. Now, I really do have to go. If I'm not back you can help yourself to anything in my fridge."

"There's nothing _in_ your fridge", he complained. "You've been gone for weeks."

She sighed and leaned over and kissed him. "Then order in. I'll see you when I can." As she walked to her car it suddenly dawned on her that maybe it wasn't such a smart idea to be marrying someone who didn't really understand what she did. "But who else _could_ I marry", she said to herself as she pulled out of her driveway.

When she got to the SGC it was to find a message waiting for her that Colonel O'Neill wanted to see her in his office. She frowned at that. He _never_ wanted to see her in his office. In fact, she couldn't really remember the last time she'd been down there. Before she met Pete he would come by _her_ office to chat or more often than not to simply bug her because he was bored. After she started dating the visits had stopped. She'd tried to tell herself she didn't mind, didn't miss him – but she'd known even then that she was lying.

But now – a trip to his office. This sounded serious and suddenly her heart started to beat quickly.

"Sir?" she knocked on the open door and watched as he looked up at her from behind his desk. She winced when she saw how pale and thin he still looked. What was Janet thinking to let him go so soon? By the looks of him he should still be in bed, resting.

"Carter, come in." He smiled at her, although it was a pretty pathetic attempt. At least it didn't look like she was in trouble.

"Sir?"

"Sit down Carter, sit down", he waved to the chair on the other side of his desk. He opened his mouth as if to speak but then frowned. He glanced around and then sighed and pushed himself slowly to his feet.

She couldn't figure out what he was doing until he limped around his desk, pulling his chair behind him. Once he was facing her, without the desk in between, he sat down – his deep sigh showing how weak he still was.

"There, that's better."

"Colonel – what is it. You're kind of – scaring me here."

He rubbed his hand through his hair and looked at her apologetically. "Sorry", he muttered, although he still didn't rush to speak. "Just trying to figure out how to tell you this. Uh – don't worry – I mean it's nothing – well yes, it is bad, but nothing that's going to hurt – well, no, it probably _will_ hurt you – not physically of course – or your career. It's more – an emotional kind of - hurt, I guess."

"Colonel?" she asked, getting more and more worried.

"Sorry – shit! Look, I don't know how to say this to make it sound any better so here goes. The damned f'n aliens – sorry Carter – took my sperm and fertilized your eggs and created a bunch of embryos. One of the evil sons of bitches then escaped with them and plans to implant them in some poor slave women somewhere." He stopped abruptly, seeming to realize that Sam was still trying to take it all in.

"Embryos Sir?"

"Yes – _ours_ – I mean – your DNA/my DNA equals embryos that are on the loose out there."

"On the – loose?" she knew she was half in shock, but his words didn't seem to make sense. "I'm sorry – I-"

"Ah hell – I didn't do that right." He pushed himself up and walked over to the small fridge in the corner – one she hadn't seen before. He opened it and pulled out a bottle of water and returned and handed it to her. "I'm sorry Carter. I just – didn't know any other way to tell you. I know it stinks."

She took a few sips of the water, not because she really needed them, but because it gave her some time to get her equilibrium back. After a few seconds she was able to breathe again – although she really wanted to open her mouth and scream. Why her? Why _now_? Just as she was finally getting her life in order. How the hell was she going to tell Pete?"

_Why did she have to tell him_, a little voice said to her? _He doesn't need to know – ever. In fact, it's best if he doesn't know. It will just hurt him._

"Carter?" Jack was looking at her with concern and she started, realizing she hadn't responded to him. "Uh – do we have any idea where he could have gone with them?"

"No, not yet", Jack answered, relieved that his steady, smart Carter seemed to be resurfacing. "Hammond had Walter contact the Tokra to see if they know anything. We've also put in a call to the Asgard."

"I see", she paused. "You said embryos. How many?"

"Six", he grimaced. "Daniel's sure that's all of them. The rest of – everything – was destroyed so once we get these back we don't have to worry."

"Get them back? Do you really think we can?"

"Damn right we can – we will! There's no way in hell I'm letting some alien monsters screw around with my – uh – offspring."

She nodded, looking slightly comforted, although a moment later her expression darkened. "Even if we do get them back Sir – what then?"

"I don't know Carter", he said softly. "I guess – we'll have to worry about that when it happens."

She nodded, knowing he was right. As of this moment they couldn't worry about anything but getting the embryos back from the aliens. Like the Colonel, there was no way in _hell_ she was going to allow any children of hers to be used by the Goa'uld.

Suddenly she felt goose bumps on her arms. She couldn't believe she was thinking about her children – children who could actually, one day, be real.

* * *

They were seated in the Briefing Room, waiting on Hammond and whoever was in his office with him. Jack knew someone had arrived through the gate while he and Carter were talking but they hadn't been told who it was. Neither Teal'c nor Daniel seemed to know either and they were all waiting to find out. Hopefully it would be someone who could help them.

Just then the door opened and Jack looked up, to see Hammond – followed by a serious looking Jacob Carter and one of his least favorite Tokr'a – Anise/Freya.

Crap!


	7. Tokra Time

**_Just a short chapter tonight - sorry._**

"Dad." Sam looked at her father in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Well hello to you too Sam", he said, taking a seat on the other side of the table from her. She noticed that Anise/Freya made sure to sit by the Colonel and stopped herself just in time from glaring at the inappropriately dressed Tokra woman. She wondered briefly what her dad thought of Anise. She wanted to snort – figuring her dad was a man like all the others and probably enjoyed watching her flaunt her big –

"Uh hi", she said, realizing that she'd been silent for too long and that everyone was looking at her strangely. "You still haven't answered my question."

Jacob sighed. "We got a message from George that you'd found one of good old Nirrti's hideouts and that you might need our help. I didn't have anything on my plate just then so I figured I'd come."

"Oh." Of _course_ it would be her father, she thought. Of all the times she _didn't_ want to see him it was now, when they needed to go find her – embryos. And then there was Anise/Freya. "What about -" she indicated the Tokra woman with a nod.

"Anise wanted to come. She's uh – interested in some of the things Nirrti was up to."

Jack turned and faced Anise, a scowl on his face. "You're interested in that sadistic bitch. Why?" he asked plainly. Clearly he didn't have fond memories of Nirrti. Sam felt a warmth tingle up her spine. She liked to think it was because of what Nirrti had done to her.

"She was a brilliant scientist", Anise said, not batting an eye. "Some of her experiments in genetics were highly useful in determining -"

"_Useful_!" O'Neill hissed. "She was a monster."

"Colonel", warned Hammond. He didn't like Anise any more than Jack did, but he did want to maintain good relations with the Tokra, even if most of them were a pain in the ass.

Anise closed her eyes and suddenly Jack knew he was talking to Freya. He didn't mind the host so much – she was rather nice – although he was a bit embarrassed when he remembered that she'd come on to him. He glanced at Sam and was surprised to see her glaring at _him_ now. What had he done?

"I am sorry Colonel" Freya said in her gentle voice. "Anise agrees that Nirrti was evil although it is also true she was brilliant. But primarily we have come to see if there is some way we can help."

"Colonel, I think we had better get to the matter at hand", Hammond said then, giving a silent warning to his subordinate.

Jack nodded glumly, hating the whole situation but knowing he had little choice then to accept the Tokra's help – as much as that galled him.

"So Jack – what happened exactly?" Jacob asked. "George said that you were the one to explain in more detail. I understand that you happened onto one of Nirrti's labs?"

Jack shifted uncomfortably in his seat, _really _not wanting to have to explain again, especially with Anise sitting there flaunting her – Tokraness in his face. "Uh – well, Nirrti wasn't there."

"I know – she's dead. But her servants were, according to George."

"Oh yeah, they were there", the bastards, he said under his breath. He could tell by the way she moved that Anise had heard him. "We gated to the planet and C-" he looked up at that moment to see a panicked look on Carter's face and stopped himself. "And uh – I was kidnapped."

Jacob frowned. "You weren't hurt I hope?"

"No – well, not – no, I wasn't hurt. They just kept me tied up for a while."

"Jack!" Daniel said, giving him the eye. He turned to Jacob. "They had him for almost three weeks – tied to a table."

"Three _weeks_? What for?" Jacob looked at him sympathetically.

"They were collecting my – DNA", he said delicately. Jacob looked puzzled, but after a moment his eyes grew round.

"You mean they collected -"

"Your sperm?" Anise broke in, sounding her usual cold and objective self. "What did they want it for?"

Jack shifted again, wanting to get up and flee the room, but instead he glared at Jacob – who looked surprised by that when it was Anise who had spoken. "What do you think", growled Jack.

"I assume to test them for some reason, or to impregnate someone. Did they do that?"

"What? Test or impregnate?" he asked sarcastically. Hammond gave him a stern look.

"Either."

"No/yes", Jack and Daniel spoke at the same time.

"They did not impregnate anyone Daniel", Jack muttered.

"Okay – but they did fertilize human ova and create embryos which is about as close as you can get without actually having a woman – uh - ."

"_What_?" Jacob snapped, looking at Jack with a shocked expression. "You're telling me they created _embryos_?"

"Actually it was Daniel who told you", Jack answered smartly.

"But – _why_ for god sakes?"

"We think it was to experiment on them and/or to create Hok'tar." Daniel jumped in again.

"Sons of bitches!" Jacob said. For some strange reason that made Jack feel a bit better.

"Yeah", Jack agreed, "they were."

"But – why do you need the Tokra? I'm assuming since you got away that everything is okay now. I mean, you look like hell, but you're walking around. You didn't suffer any – permanent damage?" Jacob asked uncomfortably.

"No – I'm okay", Jack muttered. "But the situation's not. One of the aliens escaped with the embryos – six of them to be exact."

"Escaped – oh God – and you think he plans to implant them in someone."

"Yeah, that's what we suspect." Jack looked directly at Jacob, a serious expression oh his face. "We have to stop him."

Jacob nodded, this time looking with sympathy at the man across the table. As much as he could act the fool, he knew that Jack was both smart and sensitive and this must be extremely painful for him. He suddenly had a thought. "Where did the ova come from?" He glanced at the members of Sg-1 and then at Hammond – and frowned as all of them stared blankly at him.

"Uh – does it really matter?" Jack asked. "It's _my_ stuff that's the problem. I don't want any kid of mine becoming a host or a hok'tar." Jacob seemed to accept that but when Jack looked over at Anise he could see her eyes narrowed – and the speculative look she gave Carter. He coughed and when Anise glanced at him he glared at her and gave a tiny shake of his head. After a few seconds she nodded. She'd gotten his message and was willing to play along.

"So – you want us to go find this guy?" Jacob asked, missing the little interplay between his Tokra colleague and the Colonel.

"_I _want to find him", the Colonel said ominously. "But yeah, we need to know who he is and where he'd go."

"You saw these aliens?"

"Hell yeah – I was there for weeks. But better than that, we've got one of them."

"Well why didn't you say so in the first place! Let's go talk to him. The sooner we can get going and find the damn – uh, the embryos, the better. Sam, you coming?" Jacob spoke to his daughter as he stood up.

He hadn't seemed to notice how quiet she'd been, which had been a relief, although now he was looking at her in concern.

"Are you okay Sam? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine Dad – just a little tired. It's been a busy week."

"And knowing what you're like you were probably up day and night trying to find Jack."

"Hey Jacob", Jack said quickly, drawing Jacob's attention away from his daughter. "Come on, let's get going. I want to find this guy."

Jacob and the others followed Teal'c, who took them to the location where the alien was being held. Jacob frowned when he saw how much Jack was struggling to keep up. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah", Jack grimaced. "Just stiff."

"All that lying around getting samples taken", the older man teased.

Jack cracked a laugh. "Yeah right – a real holiday! Go ahead with Teal'c and Daniel. You don't have to wait for me. I'll be there in a few minutes. I want you to figure out who the guy is and where he would have gone."

"Alright", Jacob slapped him on the back. "and I'm sorry about what's happened Jack. I know this must be hard and I promise we'll find the guy."

"Thanks Jacob", his mouth twisted in a semblance of a smile.

"Sam – you coming?" her father said, again frowning when he saw how pale she was.

"I'll just wait on the Colonel Dad. I'll be right there."

He nodded and headed off with Teal'c. Anise had already gone, having hurried ahead with Daniel.

It was as Jack watched Anise disappear down the corridor with their resident archaeologist that Jack remembered that the symbiote had a thing for Daniel. He smirked – he definitely had the better deal with the host liking him.

"Sir?" Sam's voice broke him out of his naughty thoughts about the Tokra.

"Yeah Carter?" he stopped and regarded her, not liking how ill she looked. "Hey, you okay?"

"I'm fine Sir. Like I told my Dad, I'm just a bit tired. Uh – I wanted to thank you Colonel – for not saying anything to my father."

Jack gave a dramatic shudder. "Hey – self-preservation is all Carter. I was afraid your father would kill me if he found out."

She couldn't help the grin that removed the almost haunted look from her face. "Why would he kill you Sir? It's not like it was your fault."

"Carter, he's your _father_. Of _course_ it would have been my fault. So you see – I kept it secret for me, because I'm a coward."

"Right!" she smiled and touched his arm. "Well, thank you for being a coward Sir. I really do appreciate it."

He grinned back at her and took a slow step forward. "Anytime Carter, although the next time _you_ get to tell your father when aliens experiment on us!"

She giggled and continued on down the hall with him. How it was that he could make her laugh at times like this were beyond her.

By the time Jack arrived in the brig, Jacob was in the midst of a long conversation with the alien. Sam had made the decision to head back to her office. "Uh – just tell him to come and see me when he's done", she told the Colonel. "I'm afraid the alien might say something if I'm there."

"Now who's a coward Carter?" he smirked.

"Oh me Sir – I'm happy to admit it. My Dad can be scary."

"Great – _now_ you tell me. Mind if I come with?"

"You'll be fine Sir. Just don't tell him that your – DNA – came anywhere near mine!" It was only as the words left her mouth that she realized how they'd sound. Before he had a chance to see her blush she'd turned around and headed back the way they'd come, Jack's laughter following her down the hallway.

"So – whadya find?" he asked the Tokra when he arrived.

"He is a Fraalite", Jacob answered. "They come from the planet Frabera which was – no surprise – under Nirrti's dominion. He says he was on the planet you gated to for close to twenty years – since he was a young man. He hasn't been back to his planet since then."

"And the other guy – the one who stole the embryos?"

"He used to be Nirrti's First Prime but I guess was demoted when he disobeyed her over something. Lucky she didn't kill him! Anyway, his name is Ra'mash and according to this guy he was hoping to regain her favor, which is why he stole the embryos."

Jack's brow crinkled into a frown. "He was taking them to her?"

"Traenda doesn't think so. He's pretty sure that Ra'mash wanted to take her an actual Hok'tar and so is in search of a – uh – surrogate, or maybe more than one."

"Crap! Does he think Ram-jet would go back to his home world?"

"No", Jacob shook his head. "He says not, and I tend to agree with him. The Fraalites are a small race – as you've seen – and their women are tiny. He would have to know that a – child – of yours could be pretty big, too big for one of their women. Unless of course the mother was small?"

Jack shrugged, making it look as if he didn't know. "So where does he think he may have gone?"

"Well, Nirrti had a number of planets under her control so he could have gone to any one of them."

"That doesn't do us much good", the Colonel said, sounding frustrated. "He must have _some_ idea where he could be."

"If he does he's not saying. Look, Selmak and I are going to go back and check with some of the other Tokra and find out what other planets were held by Nirrti. We'll then do some research and see if we can narrow it down."

"How long is that going to take you?" Jack said fretfully. "We need to get going."

"Jack – you're not well enough to go anywhere right now. Rest up and we'll be back in a few days and then we can go. I'm sure it's going to take a while before he finds a suitable – surrogate. According to Traenda he wanted to find the perfect woman so he'll give it some time."

Jack nodded, knowing that there really wasn't anything else he could do or say.

Jake spoke a few more minutes to Traenda, at the end of which time he turned to Jack. "He said something else – something about having lost the perfect mother for the hok'tar. Any idea what he means?"

Jack shook his head. "No", was all he said.

Jacob nodded. "I'm just curious about who he meant", he said. "There weren't any women on the planet?"

"Jacob, all I saw was the ceiling of one room and two of the aliens."

"Yeah – okay. So, I'm gonna head back now Jack. I'll be in touch as soon as we discover anything."

"Kay. Thanks Jacob – oh, and you too Anise", he nodded at the Tokra woman who had been looking at something on some kind of computer tablet she'd brought with her.

"Colonel O'Neill", she bowed her head. "It was good to see you again."

"Yeah – uh – right. Nice – good luck", he finished lamely. He didn't like the woman and wasn't particularly good at dissembling.

"Where's Sam?" Jacob asked suddenly, realizing his daughter wasn't with them.

"She had to go to her lab to check on something", Jack improvised quickly. "Do you want to go and see her and say goodbye?"

"No – just tell her goodbye and I'll see her soon." Jacob frowned. "Is she still with that Pete?"

"Yeah", Jack nodded, not saying anything more. There really wasn't anything he _could _say.

Jacob gave him a strange look. "I wish she'd dump him", he muttered. With a sigh he collected Anise and headed out.

Jack watched as Jacob and Anise headed out the door towards the gate room. He certainly hoped the other man would be able to find something because Jack was feeling like he was about ready to tear his hair out.

Sam felt guilty for deceiving her father, but at the same time knew it was probably the smart thing to do. She loved him dearly– but he could also be a pain in the ass and she was very afraid he wouldn't have reacted well to the news.

"Hey Carter", the Colonel's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Sir?" She looked up to find him standing in her doorway. She glanced behind him but didn't see her father and wondered briefly where he could be. "Did my father find out anything?"

"A bit, although we still have no idea where the guy could have gone. He found out where he's from and Jacob and Selmak – oh, and Anise – have headed back to talk to some of the other Tokra and see if they can help figure out where he might have gone. Oh, he said to say goodbye and that he'd see you soon. He'll be back as soon as he has some information."

"But – we need to find this guy now. If we wait he could -"

"I know Carter", O'Neill answered, sounding as frustrated as she felt, "but there's really not much we can do now but wait. Jacob'll come through for us."

"He hasn't realized?" she asked softly.

"You mean about who the – uh – egg donor is?" Jack asked carefully. "No. I think he assumes they must have had them stored. I think Anise knows though."

Sam crinkled her nose in reply. "I hope she doesn't say anything", she sighed, although she didn't trust the Tokra woman.

"Carter – go home. You look exhausted. As soon as I hear anything, I'll let you know."

She nodded and watched as he left her office. She sighed again and stood up. It was time to head him and deal with Pete – something she wasn't looking forward to at all. She still didn't know if she was going to say anything to him but knew he at least deserved to have her spend time with him. She was going to marry him after all.

She hated he dread that suddenly washed over her.


	8. Corridors

_**Some have asked when this story was set. I humbly admit that I don't play too close attention to the seasons beyond a general sense of when things happened. In the show I know that Sam was a L-Colonel when she and Pete were together and in my story she is a Major. So - I'll call this an AU - but it's sort of early season 7-ish. Hope that helps and my apologies for my lack of accuracy. **_

She was relieved to see that Pete's car wasn't in her driveway when she got home, and then felt an instant twinge of guilt for that thought. When had her life gotten so complicated? When aliens kidnapped you, stole your eggs, and decided to make babies from you and your superior, the little voice in the back of her head told her.

She sat staring blankly out of the window of her car, not moving, not wanting to make any decisions about anything. She didn't know what to do anymore. She'd thought her life was set – she'd met a good man, had fallen in love with him and was going to settle into a life of normal, everyday, Earth happiness.

Now - now she was restless and unsure. She'd known where she was going - was walking determinedly down the path she'd chosen - and suddenly had reached a curve she hadn't been expecting. She had to keep moving ahead - she had to think of Pete and their life together.

So why the hell did she keep thinking of tiny babies with the Colonel's eyes instead of her fiance? Why did she keep thinking about him and worrying about him? He'd looked so – lost, so alone, so hurt – that she'd wanted to hold him and try and comfort him. _Not_ something one is supposed to do with one's commanding officer. Then again, _she_ felt lost and alone and hurt - and wanted him to comfort her. _Really_ not something she should be looking for from the Colonel.

Ah hell! It's not like he'd want that with her anyway. All she was to him was his subordinate, a member of his team. No, that wasn't fair, that little voice said. They meant more to one another than simply team members – at least they had before she'd met Pete.

And she was back to Pete again. She sighed and finally reached for the handle of her car. She'd better do what the Colonel said and get some rest. Maybe she'd get her head on straight if she slept. And anyway, the next few days and weeks were going to be stressful.

* * *

"Hey Sam?"

Sam blinked awake at the sound of her fiance's voice. She looked at the clock and swore. She'd only been asleep for a little over an hour. She'd hoped that he had headed back to Denver for the day.

"Sam?" he called again. A few seconds later he appeared in the doorway to her bedroom. "Hey babe! Oh sorry, did I wake you?" He walked over and sat on the side of the bed next to her and leaned forward and kissed her. "It's only 5:30 – how come you're sleeping?"

_Was_ sleeping, she thought resentfully. Why had she given Pete the keys to her house? _Because he's your fiancé. _She really had to do something about that damned voice. Maybe Janet had a pill to cure an irritating conscience. "I told you Pete", she pulled herself up so that she was leaning against the back of the bed, "I was on a long mission and I'm still tired. The General sent me home to get some rest."

"Oh. Sorry then – but since I have a couple of days off I thought we could go out and grab dinner somewhere and then maybe go to a movie or out dancing. Whatcha say?"

"Pete – I'm _exhausted_. That's why I'm sleeping in the middle of the day."

"Yeah, but you'll feel better when you get up and move around. Come on, I heard about a really great new Mexican restaurant in town. Get up and get dressed and we'll go try it out.

She wondered briefly if it was the one the Colonel had spoken about before their last mission. She'd overheard him talking to Daniel and Teal'c, suggesting they go out and try this new Mexican restaurant. She remembered the incident because she'd felt hurt that he hadn't invited her – which was ridiculous because she'd already told the guys that she was going to Denver to see Pete for that weekend.

"Hey- come on sleepyhead, get up!" Pete grabbed her hand and attempted to pull her out of bed.

She resisted for a bit but then decided it was easier to give in. It wasn't as if she was sick – and maybe he was right, going out and getting her mind off of things might help. "Let me get dressed and I'll be right out", she told him.

"Can't I stay and watch?" he grinned.

She felt another bolt of irritation and wanted to yell at him to go away, which was completely ridiculous. She wasn't shy and they were _sleeping_ together, for god's sake. What difference did it make if he saw her get dressed?

_Shut up, _she told the voice before it had a chance to comment. She pushed off the covers and kicked her legs over the side of the bed. As she stood up she couldn't help but remember back to that brief flash she'd had of the Colonel's butt. She'd quite enjoyed the peek.

"There see, you're happier already", Pete commented upon seeing her smile.

There was no way in hell she was going to tell him it was because she was thinking of her commander's ass rather than going out with the man she was going to marry!

As she got in the passenger side of Pete's car she thought again of Colonel O'Neill and hoped he was doing okay. She hoped _he_ was getting some rest tonight.

* * *

In actual fact, Jack was, at that moment, playing poker with Daniel and Teal'c and Major Joe Tigarian from Sg7. It's not that he really wanted to play cards – and in fact he _was_ exhausted – but he was more terrified of going to sleep and having another nightmare than he was of losing his money to Teal'c.

He knew the others – at least Daniel and Teal'c – could tell that he wasn't in any shape to be playing cards, but fortunately they didn't say anything. Joe had looked at him strangely a few times, but he'd always make some quip to distract the Major. He was a good guy and since Pete he'd often made up a forth on their poker nights.

Jack didn't want to think about Pete – or about Carter – or about embryos – or about lying strapped to a table, used like some kind of a –

"O'Neill?"

He glanced up to see Teal'c looking at him with worry in his dark eyes. "Uh – sorry?"

"It is your hand", his friend told him gently. "Do you wish to finish the game now? It is getting late."

Since it was barely eight o'clock Jack responded with a simple eyebrow lift. Still, he knew the guys were doing this to humor him and that they really weren't having much fun. He sighed and set down his hand. "Yeah, I guess we should call it a night. Thanks guys", he told them as they picked up their cards and chips off the end of Jack's bed. (toothpicks from the commissary).

Joe said goodnight and left Jack and his two teammates in the room. Teal'c and Daniel continued to watch him with concern, but he simply ignored them and leaned back on his bed, his head on the pillow and his eyes looking at the ceiling.

"You gonna be okay Jack?" Daniel approached him and peered down at his friend, his whole body screaming worry.

"I'm fine Daniel – just not in the mood for cards I guess."

"Maybe you should try and get some sleep. You're looking pretty tired."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Will you be alright O'Neill? Shall I call Dr. Frasier?"

"No – I mean yes, I'll be alright and no, don't call the Doc. She's probably gone home by now anyway. Look guys, I appreciate the company tonight but I think Daniel's right and I need to get some sleep. Thanks for coming." He faced the two men, although he didn't lift his head. He was just so damned tired he could barely move.

"Okay– if you need anything, you know you can call."

"And I am close by O'Neill. Do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of assistance."

"Thanks guys." He watched at the two men, who were as close as brothers to him, left the room. He knew they worried about him and he appreciated their concern, but didn't want them wasting their time trying to babysit him. No – he had to do this on his own.

He woke up in a deep sweat, shaking and cold. It took him a few minutes before he realized that he was in the Infirmary and that it was dark and quiet. He glanced at his watch, surprised to see it was only just past ten. He'd only been asleep for a couple of hours when the nightmare had forced its way into his mind.

He sat up then, trying to get the images and – feelings – out of his mind and pushed the sheets off again, hating to have anything on top of him. He hadn't told Janet, or anyone for that matter, but he was terrified of having anyone or anything touch him. He could remember so clearly the cold hands reaching out and holding him and making his body respond in spite of all he did to stop it. He felt sick and horrified when he thought of what they'd done – what his body had done.

He was shaking with cold but couldn't bear to put the blankets over top of himself so instead he got up to see if he could reset the thermostat. When he couldn't find it he decided he had to get out of his room. Claustrophobia and panic started to set in and without letting another moment go by he headed out of him room to walk the darkened hallways of the SGC.

There really was no way of telling night from day down in the mountain, he thought with a corner of his mind. It was Hammond who'd had the smart idea of trying to keep things as normal as possible by putting the lights on a normal day rhythm. At night they were dimmed and there was a smaller staff on duty, leaving the halls dark and quiet. He padded quietly down one of the long, stark and quiet halls, not going anywhere, but needing to get away. He laughed softly – since it was his mind that he was fleeing, he knew he wasn't going to be terribly successful.

"Could use a little Goa'uld decoration", he said quietly, noticing how bare the halls were. He immediately winced as his voice seemed to echo from the cement walls. After a moment he shrugged and spoke again. "How about some pictures at least?" Hey, maybe he'd bring it up to Hammond. They could get the teams to start taking pictures off world and then blow them up – uh, _enlarge _them. If he suggested blowing them up to the marines Hammond would kill him. He could just picture the explosions running through the SGC. On the other hand, they could get pictures of all the Goa'uld they'd defeated and hang _them_ on the walls. Wouldn't that be an interesting gallery?

Yup! He stopped and looked around. They'd start with Ra, right _there_. He looked at a likely spot. Maybe they'd do guy-Goa'uld, girl-Goa'uld all the way down. Of course there were probably more guys than women - egotistical, maniacal, evil aliens - in the universe so it might be hard to be consistent with that. How about two men, one woman?

Another alternative was to consider putting up pictures of all the aliens they'd encountered in the galaxy. He wasn't sure he really wanted a picture of an Unas though. They were butt-ugly aliens, even if Daniel had made friends with some of them. And then there was fish-guy – he was pretty ugly as well.

On the other hand there was Kynthia – he could handle having her picture up. And there were some other pretty good looking aliens out there. He scowled when he thought of some of the males – Martoug, Narim, Orlin – oh yeah, he guessed they were okay looking if you were a woman – although they were all creepy. Nope – better stay with pictures of Goa'uld. At least everyone _knew_ they were creepy – _and _they didn't go and fall in love with – He switched back to the Goa'uld.

Hathor was pretty good looking, in an evil-bitch kind of way. Nirrti had been very exotic looking but he couldn't think of her without thinking about what she'd done to Carter and to Cassie's planet so no – no picture of Nirrti.

_That_ got him thinking about which of the Goa'uld was his favorite – and which his least favorite. Well, the _least_ was no question. His little holiday chez Ba'al would always live up there as one of the worst times of his life. He couldn't help the shudder that ran through him when he thought of that smooth, evil bastard. He'd never let on to a soul – in fact had worked hard to pretend otherwise – but he was terrified of Bocce – and of ever falling into his clutches again. He knew he'd go insane real fast if he ever ended up there again.

So – let's change the subject Jack and think about your _favorite_ Goa'uld. Again – it wasn't really a contest. Yu was his most favorite. He'd been the one who'd saved him from Ba'al, even if unintentionally. Yup, good old Yu. He'd have to ask Thor if he had any pictures of Yu – and some of the rest of the Goa'uld. He frowned slightly. It might be kind of tricky if they changed bodies regularly. Then again, he'd love the opportunity of having all their pictures up and putting big X's through the ones they'd gotten rid of. Yup – he'd definitely ask Thor.

He'd reached the end of the hallway by this point and had to decide whether to turn the corner or head back the way he'd come. He let out a sharp laugh, thinking that that statement could be used to describe where he was in life – stuck down a long, dreary, empty hallway with a choice to make – to go forward and turn a new corner in his life or go back to the same old place he'd come from.

Maybe it _was_ time to turn that corner. What did he have to gain by continuing on the path he was on? Here he was, a middle aged man, a soldier with no family and no life outside of work (okay – so his work was regularly travelling to other worlds and saving his planet which was pretty neat) but was that really enough to show for all he'd gone through over the years. He glanced down the long hallway and suddenly saw how stuck he'd become.

No – after this was all over – after he'd retrieved those embryos, he'd consider taking a new turn in his life. Carter was getting married and didn't need him anymore – he refused to acknowledge the sharp pain that produced. Daniel had turned from a helpless geek to a competent scientist and soldier and he'd do just fine on his own. And Teal'c – well he kind of figured that Teal'c stayed out of loyalty to him. With him gone, would Teal'c have an opportunity to move on with his life? Probably. It could be that he would do the Jaffa a favor by leaving himself.

"Okay – that's settled Jack", he murmured. "A new life it is." He lifted his eyes once more and looked down the long hall back to the Infirmary. It seemed like forever away and he wondered if he'd be able to make it. He was tired and dizzy and more than a little out of it. He took the first step back – and shaky as it was – at least it moved him towards the Infirmary.

"Sir?"

He'd almost made it back to his room and could have cursed when he looked up into the face of one of the nurses – what was her name? He glanced at her chest (only to look at her name badge – honest) but didn't see it there.

"Sir, you should be in bed. Dr. Frasier isn't going to be happy when she finds out you were up and around."

"And how _is_ she going to find that out – Lieutenant?" Normally Jack disdained officers who used their rank to blackmail other, junior officers – but hell, right now he didn't care.

"I – well – why don't you get back into bed Sir", she ended by ignoring his question. "I can bring you something to help you sleep."

"No – no that's okay." He slowly made his way towards his room, the young nurse trailing behind him. He wanted to ask her if she was going to tuck him in but refrained. She was probably already freaked out by having to tell a Colonel to go to bed like a recalcitrant child.

She helped him as he sat down and then helped lift his legs up onto the bed. She lifted the blankets over him and he almost shouted at her to stop and to go away. He bit his lip instead, and tried to settle the panic that was rising in his throat.

God dammit – _leave_, he wanted to yell. She was fiddling around with a hundred things while he lay there, thinking about straps and aliens and Viagra and embryos and Carter and – hell – just get the hell out!

"If you need anything Colonel, just ring the buzzer – it's pinned to the top of your mattress."

As if he didn't know! God – he'd spent half his life here. Please nurse – just leave. He could feel himself break into a sweat and the muscle twitches start again. If she didn't go now, he was afraid –

"I'll just leave you to sleep now Colonel. No wandering around", she looked at him sternly, as if that could stop a man who'd stared down some of the most frightening villains in the universe.

"Kay", he murmured. It was about all he could get out and he prayed it would be enough.

He was able to breathe a bit better after she'd gone, although the panic still remained. Throwing off the covers he discovered he was shaking. He briefly closed his eyes but that just brought on the pictures that didn't want to leave his mind.

He couldn't take this – couldn't stay here. The windowless rooms, the stark feeling of an institution, the reminder of medical devices and tests all converged to send him towards madness. Ignoring the words of the nurse, he kicked his legs over the side of the bed and pushed himself up until he was standing. He had to get out of here.

Of course, he didn't have any clothes handy but at least he had changed into scrubs so wasn't walking around parading his bare butt. He thought briefly of Carter but shook that off. He had to stop doing that. Carter was taken, she was forbidden even in his thoughts.

As he headed out of the Infirmary he decided that all he needed to do was to go get his keys and wallet – which had to still be in his locker. With a quick look to make sure the nurse wasn't lurking he escaped, as quickly and quietly as he could.

Another walk down a long, empty corridor, but this time with an actual destination in mind get him going no matter how tired he was. He made it to the locker room in less than five minutes flat which wasn't bad, considering he'd make it in three on a good day. He had his locker open in under thirty seconds, gathered his wallet, truck keys and jacket in another ninety seconds – and was back out in the hallway in two minutes. It had only been about eight minutes since he'd left the Infirmary – again, not bad. No telling however, when the nurse would check on him, but he figured she'd at least give him some time to fall asleep before poking her nose – ur – head back in. At least he hoped so.

On the way up the second bank of elevators he remembered the guards at the front. Hammond or Doc Frasier wouldn't have warned them about him trying to escape, would they? It was a distinct possibility and could result in his being hauled back down just like a disobedient kid. Oh well, the best way was to simply brazen his way out if they wanted to do that.

In the end the guard at the surface couldn't have cared less about him leaving. Fortunately, he knew him – not well, but enough to say hi and merry Christmas. But he _didn't_ know Jack enough to be suspicious that he was leaving the base at midnight.

"Goodnight Sir", the guard said, handing back Jack's ID card. "Have a good night."

"You too Airman", Jack nodded, trying his damn-dest to look innocent. It was only when he got inside his truck that he breathed a sigh of relief, although technically he still had the gate to get through before his escape was complete. He was pretty sure he was going to make it and soon he'd be home.

Janet was going to be pissed!


	9. Sweat Dreams

_**So - chapter 2 tonight (more brownies please). I probably won't be able to update for the next couple of days (busy, busy at work) so wanted to give you something to tide you over.**_

_**By the way - for those wondering - I haven't completed by Threads story yet. I'll get back to it soon. I've just been in a whumpish mood lately. Thanks,**_

Jack felt a huge sense of relief as soon as he walked into his house. The first thing he did was to make his way to his living room to collapse on his couch. He breathed the familiar scents of home and put his feet up. Yes – this was better.

He woke up panicked, in a deep sweat – again. Shit! He'd so hoped that getting out of the Infirmary would have helped, although he should have known better. He'd never been able to run from his nightmares in the past – why would he think he could start now.

Would a beer help? He thought about it for a few moments, too tired to actually get off his butt and make his way to the kitchen. But then again – did he really want to rely on alcohol to help him sleep? There lay a dangerous path. It could become so easy to let himself fall into that trap – and he really didn't need that now, or ever.

Not sure what to do, but knowing he didn't want to close his eyes and let the terrors begin again, he reached for the remote and flicked on the TV. By now all there was were really old movies and the beginning of infomercials. Oh well – maybe he really did need a super duper vegislice-ometer to help chop his carrots, cut through metal and then slice tomatoes _ever_ so thin. Yup – that's what he needed alright.

He flipped the channels over and over, too tired and lethargic to watch anything, but too frightened of sleep to let himself relax. He'd been at it for well over an hour when his phone rang. Yup – Nurse Whatsername had discovered he'd fled the coop.

"I'm fine Janet", he said into the receiver. "I just needed to sleep at home."

"Colonel – you don't just up and leave like that!" She was practically shouting into the phone.

Yup – pissed all right. He stared at Moe as he hit Curly – normally it would make him laugh but tonight all it did was make him sad. Why do people have to hurt one another?

"_Colonel_!"

Oops. "Sorry Janet – just turning down the TV."

"Did you hear what I said? You scared Lieutenant Walker to death. She's practically in tears because she thinks it's her fault that you're gone."

Damn – he hadn't wanted that. He sighed into the phone. "I'm sorry Janet. I didn't mean to worry her. I just couldn't take the place anymore. It reminded me -" he paused. "Anyway, I just needed to get home and I was afraid she'd try and stop me."

He heard Janet's sigh on the other end of the phone. "I know Colonel just – next time – give me a call or something, okay."

"Yeah, okay Janet." He paused. "You're not going to make me go back are you?"

"No Sir – not if you look after yourself. _Don't_ drink any alcohol -"

"I haven't – I promise."

"Okay good. Eat regularly – you need to gain weight. And _sleep_ Colonel. You have to rest."

"Okay, okay. I get it Doc – and – thanks."

"That's okay Sir – oh, and next time you're on base bring Lieutenant Walker a really nice box of chocolates."

"Will do", he laughed. After he hung up the phone he thought about Janet. She really was a special person.

So – she wanted him to sleep. Now how in hell was he going to do that?

"What's the matter with you Sam?" Pete asked, looking and sounding irritated. He'd taken her to the Mexican restaurant but she'd just picked at her food and had barely said anything. Afterward he'd wanted her to go out but she'd told him she just wanted to go home. Now they were sitting together on her couch and all she could think of was that she really wanted him to go home.

"I told you I was exhausted Pete – what did you expect?"

"That maybe you'd _try_", he answered, sounding sulky. "I mean, I drove all the way from Denver to spend time with you and this is all I get."

"What – a woman who told you more than once she's tired and needs to rest? I'm sorry I couldn't be more fun tonight but I didn't ask you to come down."

"Now you don't want to see me?"

"That's not what I said Pete. I just needed a little time to recuperate from a hard mission and instead -"

"It's always the damn missions", he interrupted furiously. "Do you ever get a life? Or do you want to spend all your time running around the galaxy, playing superhero?"

"What?" She sat up and stared at him. "_Superhero_? What the hell does that mean?"

"You know exactly what it means. You enjoy running around with your three guy teammates – going off and _saving the world_ all the time. You don't really want to stay here and lead a normal life, do you?"

"I don't know what the hell you're doing Pete, but you're really starting to piss me off. Just because I'm tired you think you can treat me like this? Don't _you_ ever get tired after a busy day on the job? Or is that only allowed when you have a _normal_ job?" She closed her eyes briefly, knowing this was a mistake. She needed to be alone – to rest – not to be fighting with her fiancé. "I think you'd better go", she said softly. "We're both tired and upset and we're gonna say things we regret." Actually – they had already, but she didn't want to even think about that now. "I need to sleep, not to fight."

"Fine." He stood up and reached over and grabbed his keys. "Call me the next time you're not _tired_ and you want to see me. I'll know enough not to interrupt you when you've got other, more important things than me on your mind." With that he left – closing the door solidly, although she couldn't accuse him of slamming it.

In actual fact, she had this childish urge to get up, open her own door, and slam it after him. It might make her feel better – either that or she could throw something through her window.

Fortunately she stopped herself before going that far. Sighing she leaned back and closed her eyes – but knew almost instantly that she wasn't going to be able to sleep. She was too angry – too upset – and the sad thing was, it had nothing to do with Pete. In fact, she barely gave him another thought after he was gone.

No, all she could think about was the damned planet and the aliens who had _used _her, who had – _violated_ her. _There_, she finally said it. It was true, she hadn't wanted to face it but the fact was, she was feeling lost and frightened and, and violated was the word that kept coming to mind.

Everyone had had sympathy for the Colonel, for what he'd been through – and rightly so. And yet no one had seemed to realize that she might be feeling something of what he was feeling. They assumed that because she couldn't remember it, that she'd be okay. But the truth was, she was horrified at what had been done to her. She'd been kidnapped, knocked out and her body had been invaded for someone else's purpose. And the result was that now there were babies out there – okay, so they were embryos – but still, they were _possible_ children – of hers and the Colonel's.

What did she do? Who could she talk to? She thought about Janet, and she could go to her as a friend, but Janet was also her doctor – and a fellow officer in the Air Force. She'd be forced to report the fact that Sam was experiencing trauma as a result of a mission and she could end up being forced into therapy – or even put on leave. There was no way she'd allow that – not now – not when she had to find those embryos and stop the alien from implanting them.

Daniel? She could talk to him and she knew he'd be sympathetic. But he wouldn't understand –not really. And Teal'c? No – just – no. She loved him and relied on him – but this case was so far outside his experience that it would be putting him into a difficult position.

No, the person she really should be able to talk to was Pete but that – sadly – wasn't even an option. And what was even sadder was that it had nothing to do with clearance. He knew what she did and she could have told him some, if not all that had happened. The problem was, he wouldn't have understood. He would have blamed the Air Force, or the program, or even Colonel O'Neill and her team. He would have been angry and would have wanted her to change jobs or resign. And then there was the issue of the – children – that could be a possibility. How would he handle that? Not well, she knew – and she couldn't really blame him for that.

So – that left – no one. At least – no one she could go and talk to. The stupid voice – she was really going to have to figure out how to kill it – was whispering a name to her and she steadfastly ignored it. "Not possible", she finally shouted. "I _can't_ talk to him. No way! Never."

No, but she could go for a drive. Getting out of the house and driving around the dark streets of Colorado Springs appealed to her. She felt restless but didn't really want to go for a walk, not in the middle of the night. Grabbing her coat she made her way to her small car and got in. She again sat for a few minutes and then laughed at herself. This was getting to be a habit.

She must have driven for almost an hour – stopping once at a drive through to grab a cup of decaf coffee – before her car finally made its way down _his_ street. She recognized it almost instantly, although to be fair to herself she hadn't come this way intentionally. No – your subconscious just forced you to take the exact route to get here.

"Shut up", she said to the voice, as if it was now normal to talk to it. "I'm just going to drive by and then head back home. Someone should check on his house anyway."

Yeah right! She grew closer – recognizing the houses on the way to his. She eventually came to his cozy looking house and instinctively slowed down.

What the - ? His truck was in the driveway and lights were on in his house. She looked at her watch – it was after two-thirty in the morning. Why was he here – and why was he still up.

She was sure that Janet had wanted to keep him in the Infirmary for a few more days. What had made her decide to let him out? A sudden thought struck her that maybe Janet _hadn't_ let him out. It would be like the Colonel to make a break for it, especially if Janet wasn't at work. And she _wasn't, _Sam remembered. Parent teacher interviews had been on at Cassie's school that evening so Janet had gone home early.

"You escaped, didn't you Sir?" She shook her head at what definitely sounded like something the Colonel would do, but then she realized that she understood _why_ he'd done it. Hadn't she done exactly the same thing, although in her case no one was going to be upset? The Colonel, on the other hand, was going to have to deal with an extremely irate Janet Frasier.

If he was okay that was. God – what if Janet didn't know he had gone and what if something had happened to him. He was still weak and dealing with the extreme trauma of the planet. He could be in trouble and maybe no one even knew he was missing.

It suddenly dawned on Sam that she was sitting outside his house in the middle of the night – wondering how he was and worrying about him, when all she had to do was knock on his door and check on him. If he was okay she'd just leave.

Won't he wonder what you're doing at his house at this time of night? "Yes – he will. I'll just say that I went out to get something and saw his lights on."

Get something? What? And why did you happen to drive down his street when it's nowhere near your house?

"Fine – I'll tell the truth."

Which is?

"That I was worried about him and decided to come and make sure he didn't need anything.

And you knew he was home – how?

"Uh – okay, I was driving all over and decided to drive by the houses of all my friends and saw his lights on. Is _that_ going to satisfy you?"

There was no answer this time so she did a mental 'so there', and started the engine on her car. After checking there were no other cars on the street, she did a quick U-turn and parked in the Colonel's driveway behind his truck.

Okay Sam, here goes nothing! The Colonel was probably going to think she'd lost her mind but – what was he going to do – shoot her? He might, the voice said.

"Screw off!"

By the time she reached his door she had rethought this whole idea. He'd definitely think she was crazy. More than that, he'd think she was intruding on his personal space. She _never_ did this - _had_ never done this. In all the years of their crazy, mixed up, confused relationship, she'd never once shown up, out of the blue, in the middle of the –

"Carter?" He was standing there, his door open, the light behind casting him in shadow, looking at her. "Whatcha doing?"

"Uh." Voice taunted her – _now_ tell him what you're doing here.

"I'm sorry Colonel. I couldn't sleep and I went for a drive and ended up here. I saw your lights on – so I – but I'll go. I really shouldn't have disturbed you."

He rubbed his hand through his hair and shrugged. "You didn't. I was just watching TV." He stepped back and motioned for her to enter. "Come on in. We might as well not sleep together." He stopped at that and grimaced. "That somehow came out – wrong."

She giggled briefly. "That's okay Sir – I knew what you meant."

"Good, cause I don't really know what I'm sayin' right now." He walked into his living room, allowing her to follow. He plunked down on his couch, his eyes immediately focusing on his TV. "You ever tried that?", he pointed.

Sam turned to the program and squinted at it. After a minute she realized it was an infomercial for something that removed calluses. "Uh –no."

"Hmm. Thought it might be useful to have on base. I'll have to tell Hammond – or Janet. There was also something for hiding belly fat. I wonder if it works."

"Uh – I don't think you need to worry about that Sir. You're in good shape. In fact, I think I heard Janet saying you needed to gain weight."

"Yeah", he sighed and reached for the remote and flipped the channel. "Not very hungry." He frowned and glanced at her. "You hungry? I don't know if I have anything, although there may be a box of crackers somewhere. Probably stale though."

"I'm fine Sir", she answered. She regarded the Colonel as he refocused on the TV. He looked terrible. There were dark circles under his eyes and his skin had a waxy look. By the way he moved she could tell he'd gone beyond exhaustion. Why in the world wasn't he –

"Nightmares Sir?" she asked gently, suddenly realizing what was going on with him.

He paused for a moment in the channel flipping, but then started again without answering. Sam gave a small sigh and moved closer to him. She reached out and gently took the remote away. He glanced at her hand, but wouldn't look up to meet her eyes.

"Me too", she said softly. "Even though I can't really remember much, I still feel – violated. It's – I – every time I close my eyes I feel like I'm back there." She sat quietly while he continued to stare at her hand. It was a long time later that she felt him shudder. She looked up then, to see that he was looking at her, although his eyes were unfocused.

"I keep seeing them", he whispered.

"The aliens?"

He nodded. "I couldn't move – couldn't do anything. I thought – I was going mad." He closed his eyes but opened them quickly. "I started to – imagine myself somewhere else. Pretty soon I _was_ somewhere else and the aliens and the present began to – fade."

She swallowed convulsively, knowing what he was saying – and both horrified and incredibly touched; horrified by what he'd gone through and touched by the fact that he was confiding in her. She also knew that he would have gone mad eventually - either from being tied down or from escaping into his mind. Thank god he'd been found when he had. As it was, she knew he had a lot of trauma to deal with – without even thinking about the embryos.

"Where did you go?" Normally she would never ask such a thing but now – right here, at this moment it seemed right.

"With Charlie", he said quietly, answering her easily. "I remembered all the good times with him. We went to the cabin and fished and played ball and hiked." He smiled. "It was great." A second later and the smile fled. "I didn't want to come back."

God – no wonder he was finding it hard to deal with everything. How would he feel, being forced to – in some ways – give his son up again to return to reality. And then, once he arrived home, to find out that some alien bastard was intent on creating another child of his. "I'm sorry", she reached out and gently touched his arm.

"No!" he jerked away quickly, looking panicked.

Sam sat back – surprised and dismayed. "I'm sorry Sir", she cried. "I didn't mean -"

"T'sokay", he said, sounding out of breath. "Sorry – I'm just - a little jumpy."

"Of course you are", she nodded, making herself sound as matter-of-fact as she could. He looked at her with his own surprise.

"Of course I am?" he repeated.

"Yeah", she smiled. "I'd imagine that being restrained for so long and having people – touch you – would make you a bit jumpy. You'll get over it eventually, once you're stronger."

"You think so?" he asked, suddenly sounding terribly vulnerable.

"Of course", she nodded. "You can't expect to be better already but I'm sure you'll get there. It also may take zatting the hell out of the bastard that did this to you and that stole – some of us – but you'll do it."

Jack frowned and looked at the woman opposite him. It suddenly struck him that Carter was sitting on his couch, in the middle of the night, and no one else was around. What the hell had he been thinking? And where was Pete? Surely he lived with her – or at least was there with her most of the time.

"Uh Carter?"

"Yes Sir."

"What – I mean - why are you here? Not that I mind or anything but –"

"I couldn't sleep Sir – remember? I just – ", she bowed her head and debated with her little voice. Finally raising her head she looked at her commander. "I needed to talk to someone and there wasn't anyone else I figured would understand. It's not that I'm comparing what happened with me to what -"

"Aack – stop Carter", he held up his hand. "You don't _have _to compare anything. You were hurt – yes you were", he said when she went to object. "You were kidnapped and hurt just like me. You were somewhat lucky in that they didn't tie you down – but that doesn't make what you went through any better. You have a right to be pissed and not to be able to sleep."

"So – you're okay with me dropping in at odd hours of the day or night?" she gave a small grin.

"Of course", he smiled back. "Any time Carter – mi casa es su casa and all that."

"Good. Uh Sir – you really do need to go to sleep. You're going to make yourself ill."

"Hey, you too Major. I'd say we were a pair."

She nodded and took a deep breath. "So what should we do? I don't want to take any of Janet's pills. They make me feel worse in the morning."

"Yeah, me too." Jack leaned back and thought about their quandary. Both of them were exhausted and needed to sleep, but he couldn't handle the thought of being closed in – of being stuck in a room with – wait!

"Carter – I have an idea. How do you feel about – camping?"

"Camping Sir?" she looked at him in confusion. He didn't answer, simply grinned and stood up.

"Just wait here." With that he limped off, looking as if he suddenly had some more energy. A few minutes later he returned, his arms full of – something.

"Sleeping bags", he explained. "Here, take them. I'll be right back." The next time he returned he was carrying something else, and a small pump. "Air mattress."

"Sir", she laughed. "What are you doing?"

He stopped and looked at her seriously. "I can't – sleep inside. It's too claustrophobic."

"So we're going _camping_?"

"Not far. You don't have to come if you don't want to." He said it as if he'd be terribly disappointed if she _didn't_ – which warmed her to the bottom of her toes.

"I'll come – although I'm not exactly dressed for this", she pointed to her jeans and t-shirt."

"Wait here!" he turned and hurried – as fast as he could go – down the hallway. He came back carrying assorted pieces of clothing. "Here – put these on. They'll be big, but they'll be more comfortable and warmer."

"Long johns Sir?" she held up a pair and grinned at him.

"Hey- it's better than freezing."

She nodded and took the clothes and headed to the bathroom where she quickly began to change into the long underwear and sweats that he'd given her. She couldn't help but stop and smell them – they _smelled _like Jack. Damn – she was in trouble.

"Just come up when you're dressed", he called. Jack then made his way outside and climbed the ladder to his star-gazing deck. Placing the air mattress down he plugged the blower into the outside socket and watched while it filled. After a few minutes it was full and he stopped the blower. He then hurried back down the ladder and grabbed the two sleeping bags and made his way upstairs.

It took a few moments to set everything up so that they'd be comfortable. He had a sudden twinge of conscience but then decided he was being silly. It's not like this was something romantic or even unfamiliar. They'd camped out together for years on missions.

But never just the two of them, his conscience jabbed him. You know this isn't the same. "Oh shut up."

"Sorry Sir?"

"Carter? Sorry – I wasn't talking to you – just to the little annoying voice in my head."

She looked at him in surprise. "You've got one too?"

"Yeah?" He regarded her strangely. "Uh – why?"

"Because mine's been driving me crazy all day. I want to shoot her."

He grinned at that – the picture of Sam shooting the little voice in her head somehow tickled him. "I wouldn't recommend it Major – might be kind of – self-defeating."

"I know", she sighed. She then regarded the two sleeping bags laid out next to one another. "You're sure about this Sir?"

"I am – but you don't have to stay if you don't want to."

"No – I think it might be good. Maybe the fresh air will help me sleep."

"You comfortable", Jack pointed to the sweat suit she was wearing. "Looks better on you than on me."

"Well, you'll just have to let me keep it then Sir – and yes, it's comfortable." She wondered briefly what Pete would say if she were to bring this home with her – and then put the thought, and him, out of her mind.

"Well, I think it's about time for my nap. You comin' Carter?" Without looking at her he bent and undid his sleeping bag and proceeded to climb in. She hesitated for just a moment and then, with a shrug, followed suit. It felt warm and cozy and – she wished she and the Colonel were sharing a bag. Stop that Sam!

"This is nice", she said quietly. "It's good to see the stars."

"Mmm hmm", he agreed, his eyes focused on the heavens. "It is." He tilted his head and watched her for a moment. "I'm glad you stopped by Carter", he told her quietly. "Maybe now I can sleep."

"Me too", she said. "Close your eyes Sir. I'm right here if you need me."

"I know Carter. I've always known. And - I'm here for you."

"I know that too Sir. Sweet dreams."

"Sweat dreams Sam." With that he closed his eyes.


	10. Waking Up

_**She's baaaack! Sorry - work life was crazy.**_

She woke up shmooshed against the Colonel. It was rather a pleasant awakening, although at first she was a bit confused. Hadn't they gone to sleep in their own sleeping bags? Then she remembered – he'd woken up not long after falling asleep, panicked at being stuck in the bag. She immediately helped unzip it and he'd looked at her in embarrassment.

"It's okay Sir", she said calmly, still half asleep. 'Why don't we open both of them and lay one out on the ground. We can cover ourselves with the other one and it won't feel so restrictive.

He'd mumbled something in reply but had helped her unzip the two bags and lay them out. He immediately laid down, his back to her. She couldn't help but smile in affection. For such a strong man he easily became embarrassed at simple things. With a gentle breath she'd closed her eyes and had quickly fallen asleep, feeling more relaxed than she had in days.

So _now_ who's embarrassed, Sam, she said to herself. Her butt was pressed up against the Colonel and she could definitely feel that sidearm, although logically she knew it was simply his natural morning - reaction. On top of that – or on top of _her_ was his arm. And he wasn't holding her loosely but had his arm wrapped tightly around her so she could barely move.

"Uh Colonel?" she said softly. She didn't really want to wake him up, but she had to take a trip downstairs. When he didn't move or respond she sighed and snuggled into him. Oh well, her bladder could wait for a bit. He definitely needed the sleep and she didn't want to disturb him. Of course there was absolutely no other reason for not moving – none at all.

The Voice made a rude noise of disbelief. She really had to shoot the damn thing! For now however, she simply closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.

* * *

Jack woke up slowly, enjoying the unusual sensation of actually having slept through the night. He had that warm, comfortable sleepy feeling you get when you wake up after a good night and realize it's the weekend and you don't have to go anywhere or do anything.

He nuzzled his face into her neck, enjoying the feel of soft skin against his lips and the luxuriant smell of some kind of exotic smelling shampoo. Yup – he didn't have to go anywhere or do anything other than snuggle with –

Oh crap! He peered down at the head which was tucked into his neck. Yup – blond hair, soft warm body, and he had a great big – double crap! He didn't know what to do. Pulling back too quickly would wake her up and then she'd know. If he could just _ease his way_ – he carefully, steadily lifted his arm, and immediately her breath hitched. He froze and waited. After a moment it seemed like she wasn't going to wake up so he continued.

He let out a soundless breath as soon as his arm was no longer touching her. Now, of course, there was the rest of his body – the body that was pressed up against her in a highly inappropriate manner. God, if anyone came by they'd be in danger of being court martialed.

He tried to scoot back carefully, without waking her up, because if she _did_, he'd be extremely embarrassed. Even though he knew Sam wasn't _that_ innocent – still, she didn't need to know – to _feel_ that much about him.

"Sir?"

Crap! "Uh, yeah Carter?"

"I'm sorry Sir – did I wake you? I kind of have to get up and use the little girl's room."

"Oh." He swiftly rolled away from her and sat up, keeping the sleeping bag over top of himself. "Sorry. Uh – no problem. I guess it's time we got up anyway." He squinted down at his watch and was surprised to see that it was almost ten o'clock. He had to look at it again to make sure he hadn't misread it.

He watched as Carter pulled herself up and then got to her feet. He bit his lip to stop grinning at the sight of her hair sticking up and the sheet marks across her face. It suddenly dawned on him that she usually looked much more put together when she got up in the morning when they were on mission. Yeah, but she usually bunked with Daniel or Teal'c, he reminded himself, so he may not have actually seen her when she first got out of bed.

"I wouldn't grin Colonel", she told him, eyeing him speculatively. "Cause if you do I'll bring a mirror."

He grimaced and tried to pat down his hair, which was obviously sticking all over the place. "Bad huh?"

She did grin at that. "Yes Sir. Pretty spectacular."

He sighed and pushed himself to his feet. "I won't tell if you won't Carter", he told her, his face breaking into a smile.

"That's a deal Sir", she laughed. "And now – to the lady's room."

"Uh Carter", he shouted down after her as she made her way down the ladder. "I don't have a lady's room you know."

She looked up at him, her foot on the lowest rung of the ladder. "You're telling me to watch out for the seat?"

He shrugged and nodded. "Yeah. Wouldn't want you falling in."

She laughed again and made her way into his house. She couldn't believe how much better she felt this morning. A good night's sleep will do that to you Sam, my girl. She started to hum as she headed into Jack's guest bathroom. She grinned again when she saw the seat which, contrary to his warning, was down.

Jack grinned as he thought about Carter and realized, at the same time, that he felt pretty darn good this morning. Although his back was a bit stiff from sleeping on the ground – or his deck to be more accurate – at least he felt rested. After they'd laid out the sleeping bags he'd fallen asleep and hadn't suffered a single nightmare. Maybe he was getting through this.

He snorted. Sure O'Neill! One night's sleep doesn't mean you're all better. Still – he was on the way and he had Carter to thank for it. As he began to roll up the sleeping bags he couldn't help but whistle.

* * *

"Coffee Carter?" he called. He'd put the things away and had decided that he was incredibly hungry. He foraged around his kitchen to discover – not much of anything. Maybe they'd go out and get breakfast. He glanced at his watch and frowned – okay, maybe brunch.

"Uh – do you have tea Sir?" Carter answered, walking into the kitchen with a towel wrapped around her hair. "I hope you don't mind. I borrowed a clean towel and decided to take a quick shower."

"No, I don't mind at all. Tea? I didn't know you drank the stuff Carter. I've only ever seen you have coffee in the morning."

She grimaced slightly. "Yeah, I usually do. I don't know why but this morning the idea of coffee just doesn't sound good."

"Okay." He looked up into his cupboard until finally, with a muttered 'there', he brought down a box of peppermint Tea. He looked at her with a doubtful look on his face. "Uh – I think this is all I have."

"That's okay Sir. I don't need anything. Can I ask why you have peppermint tea?"

He stared at the box as if it was something dangerous that someone had planted in his house. "I think it was Teal'c", he finally said. "Someone told him it was good for settling the stomach."

"But Teal'c never gets upset stomachs", she said, sounding confused.

"No, but I think Daniel convinced him to try it to settle Junior."

She laughed. "Why would he want to do that?"

"I dunno. He probably did it to humor Daniel. Uh, I'm afraid I don't really have anything here to eat. Feel like going out to grab something?"

Her immediate reaction was to say yes, but then she thought about how inappropriate this whole thing was. She'd just spent the night at her commanding officer's house – _sleeping_ with him – and even thought all they'd done _was_ she was pretty sure no one would believe them. If anyone from the base were to see them having breakfast together it could make the rumor mill explode. She sighed, about to refuse, when the phone rang.

"Janet or Daniel?" he asked her.

She looked at him strangely for a moment and then laughed. "Uh Janet", she replied. She figured the doctor would be checking up on the Colonel after his escape last night.

"Hello", Jack answered the phone. He shook his head and gave a thumbs down sign. "Daniel? What can I do for you?" There was a brief pause and then Jack spoke again. "Why don't the two of you come over and we can go out for breakfast – okay, okay _brunch_. I'm afraid I slept late this morning. Oh, and I'll call Carter and invite her to go with us."

Sam smiled, looking at him gratefully. This way she could continue to spend time with the Colonel and yet it wouldn't look bad. And it wouldn't cause any comment for her car to be here when they arrived as she lived closer than Daniel or Teal'c.

"Okay, I'll see you in half an hour." He hung up the phone and looked at his favorite officer. "Okay?"

"Yes Colonel – thank you."

"No problem Carter." He suddenly grew serious and walked over to her. "Thank you Sam", he said. "You – helped."

"You're welcome Jack", she smiled, "and thank you too. I finally managed to sleep."

"Yeah – it was good." He looked down, seeming rather uncomfortable. "I'm sorry if I put you in an awkward situation", he gestured towards his roof. "I hope you know I didn't mean anything – I'd never want to put you in an uncomfortable position.

More's the pity, she thought to herself. She then thought back to the position she's woken up in and _really_ wished he'd put her in _that_ position again. "It's okay Sir", she replied. "If anyone's to blame it's me. I mean I'm the one who drove over late at night and invaded your privacy."

"So you did", he gave a lopsided grin. "And thank you for that. I think you should probably go and dry your hair", he pointed at it. "You don't want Teal'c and Daniel to see you with wet hair."

She knew he had intentionally changed the subject, but she also knew he was right. She had to get herself together before they came. "Thanks!" she turned and headed back towards the bathroom but stopped just as she reached the kitchen doorway. She looked up at the Colonel and smiled. "I – it meant a lot Sir", she said and then headed out of the room.

Jack stood watching her somberly after she left. For the first time in a long time he felt angry – angry at Pete for stealing the woman he loved, angry at _her_ for being so willing to give up what he'd thought they had together – even if it could never be expressed – angry at the Air Force and at aliens and finally – and probably most furiously at himself.

Why did his life have to be so f***'ed up?

It was almost forty minutes later when the doorbell rang and Jack made his way there slowly, hating the thought of losing this time alone with Sam. He opened the door to see a concerned Daniel and Teal'c standing there.

"Come on in", he gestured.

"How are you doing Jack?" Daniel asked with a frown. "You're looking good."

"Feeling good", he replied. When his friends continued to stare at him his sighed. "I had a great night sleep and now I'm ravenous, so let's go!"

"Where's Sam?" Daniel looked around the room. "We saw her car outside."

"Yeah – she's just in the bathroom. You know – adjusting her make-up or something."

Since Sam came out a moment later without a drop of make-up on her face, Teal'c looked at him rather quizzically. He simply shrugged. His friend might suspect something, but Jack knew he would never reveal anything to a soul. If there was anyone he could trust it was Teal'c.

"So, where are we going?" Sam asked. "I'm starving!"

* * *

Jack continued to feel a bit stronger every day, although after that first night the nightmares did come back. Some nights were better than others, and he still found himself panicking at anyone's touch or at being closed in anywhere. Still, he knew that Sam had been right and it would get better. He just wished it would happen sooner.

He'd been out of the Infirmary almost a week and they hadn't heard anything from Jacob or the Tokra. He was starting to worry about the time delay and he was sure Carter had to be feeling the same. The longer they waited the more likely that the damned alien would implant one or all of the embryos. If that were to happen, he didn't know what he'd do. He did know that he would never let a child of his grow up to be a slave or a host.

It was on the eight day since his 'release' that he got a call from the base telling him that Hammond wanted to see him – that they had visitors. He gave Sam a quick call and she'd also heard from Walter.

"It must be my father", she spoke quietly and calmly, although she had to be feeling as nervous as he was. He hadn't seen her since the day she'd stayed over and he found himself missing her presence. At the same time he knew it would be dangerous to keep on that path. She was engaged to be married and he had to maintain a professional distance.

"That's what I figured. I'm heading over now so I'll see you in a few."

"Okay Sir – thanks. I'll see you shortly." Sam slowly hung up the phone and stared at it for almost a minute before pulling herself out of her fog. When she'd first answered the phone her heart at leapt at the sound of the Colonel's voice. Immediately afterward she'd felt guilty. She couldn't think that – couldn't let herself move back to that place she was before where she spent all her time yearning for him, knowing she couldn't have him. She'd found a good man and she needed to concentrate on him.

Except that 'good man' had been a pain in the mitka all week. He'd gone off in a huff and had only called her two days later. When she'd heard him on the other end of the phone she _hadn't_ felt her heart leap. In fact she'd immediately felt irritated – not a good reaction to one's fiancé. He'd come over the next day and she'd gone out to dinner with him, this time doing everything she could to pretend she was having fun and she focused solely on him.

It had all gone well- she could tell he was happy – until they'd gotten back to her place. He'd immediately taken her in his arms and made his intent obvious. _Her_ reaction had been to cover her mouth and run for the bathroom, where she'd lost her dinner. She'd apologized profusely, but told Pete she wasn't feeling well. He had believed her – he couldn't not have with her throwing up so spectacularly – but clearly he had been unhappy. He offered to stay but she'd told him she would do better on her own and he'd seemed to be relieved to leave.

After he'd gone she dissolved into tears, wondering what the hell was wrong with her. Once that was done she'd washed her face and had watched a stupid movie. By then she was feeling fine – and had ended up fixing herself a light dinner. She lay awake for quite some time that night, not because she felt sick or because of what had happened on the planet, or even about the Colonel. Instead she kept thinking about Pete and wondering if she'd made the world's most stupid mistake.

"Dad!" she cried, moving quickly to the former General and giving him a hug. "What took you so long?"

"Nice to see you too Sam", he said. His words were sarcastic but not the tone. Instead he gave her another quick hug and looked at her carefully. "You okay?" She was still pale and thinner than he liked.

"I'm fine Dad – just anxious to get this thing over with. What did you find out?"

"Let's wait for Jack to get here", he told her. "I'd rather not go through things twice." They moved to the Briefing room where Teal'c and Daniel already were seated.

"Hey guys", Sam said, giving them both a smile. She hadn't seen them in a few days as they'd both been loaned out to other teams while she and the Colonel were still on leave.

"Hey Sam/Hello Major Carter", the two men replied in unison.

"How are you doing?" Daniel looked at her carefully, seeing some of the same things as her father.

She shrugged. "Okay – just wanting to get moving on this."

"Hiya campers!" Jack walked in practically bouncing. He did a double take – surely pretend – and spoke again. "Jacob! Fancy meeting you here. Howya doin'? And how's good old Selmac?"

"We are fine Jack", Jacob said, an eyebrow raised. "How about you? You're looking a little better than the last time we saw you."

"Yup – I'm good, fine, hunky dorey, never better."

"You still look pale and as if you need to gain weight Colonel O'Neill", Selmac spoke, although Jack was sure it was Jacob who was giving him the smirk.

"Uh – yeah – well - _General Hammond_!" he turned to his CO in relief as he walked into the room. "Good to see ya Sir!"

George looked at him with one brow raised. "It's good to see you too Colonel. How are you doing?"

"Fine Sir. Good. Great."

"Good. After we're done you should check in with Doctor Frasier for a check-up." Without saying more, and completely ignoring his 2IC's scowl, he turned to the Tokra. "So Jacob/Selmack, what do you have for us."

Jacob bowed his head and when he lifted it there was a brief flash of his eyes and then Selmak spoke. "We believe we may know where Ra'mash has gone."


	11. The Hunt: Day One

_**Many of you guys caught the huge error in this chapter. I debated what to do - but realized the only way to fix it was to rewrite part of the chapter. I'm so sorry - it's not a very good thing to have to do. I hope you can all erase what you read before and reread this! Again, my apologies and thanks all for the catch!**_

There was silence in the room until, as usual, it was broken by Jack.

"So – don't leave us in suspense. Where did the little ba-", he glanced at his CO, "uh guy go?"

Jacob – or maybe Selmak – did the transfer thing and it was again Jacob who spoke. "Uh, Selmak didn't mean to imply that we know _exactly_ where he went."

"Of course not", Jack said, sounding agreeable. "We certainly wouldn't expect the Tokra to give us accurate, timely information."

"_Colonel_!" Hammond said sharply. "That was uncalled for."

Jack looked a little sheepish and gave a small shrug. "Sorry Jacob, Selmak. I didn't mean to – well, yes I did but that wasn't fair. Just chalk it up to being a bit antsy about this whole thing."

"That's okay Jack, I understand. But you didn't let me finish. While we can't pinpoint the exact location, we do have a good idea of the most likely places he would have gone. Nirrti had a number of planets under her control but after conferring with some of our colleagues, it looks like there are half a dozen at most which would be probable."

"Why those?" Sam asked curiously.

"Some of the other planets have different non-human species on them, some are no longer habitable – or at least no longer have large populations on them. And in some cases the planets were taken over by other System Lords and Ra'mash wouldn't find them too friendly."

"Would he know that?" Jack wanted to know. "I mean, he could have gone some place that was fine when he was younger, but now is in someone else's hands."

"Possible, although most of them changed hands while Nirrti was still alive. Presumably he would know about them. There are a couple that we're unsure of, so we've kept them on the list, but we don't think they're too likely."

"So uh – how do we check out even six planets?" Daniel wanted to know. "I mean, supposing they have large populations, it might be hard to track him down."

"Possibly, although none of the Goa'uld controlled planets ever grew that big. They would be too hard to control so the populations were strictly controlled."

"Unlike Earth", Teal'c interjected. "Without the Goa'uld it was able to grow."

"Until we now have too many people", Jack said softly. "So, we have six planets. Do they all have gates?"

Jacob frowned and again let Selmak take control. "Unfortunately no. Three of them have gates and three do not. Then there are the additional two of which Jacob spoke. They do not have gates either."

"Great – so we're going to have to go by ship?" O'Neill glanced at Hammond and then back to Jacob/Selmak.

"I'm afraid so", Jacob answered. "We've been given permission by the Council to take you in a Tel'tak to the three planets."

"Really?" Jack looked surprised. "How come they're being so nice? It's not usually like the Tokra."

"Probably the thought of six little Jack O'Neills running around the galaxy terrified them", Daniel muttered. At the shocked looks on everyone's faces he blanched. "Crap – I'm sorry Jack. I didn't mean to say that."

"Ts'okay Daniel." Jack sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Probably true anyway. So – where do we start?"

"Jack, I spoke with Jacob and thought I'd send Sg3 with him to the three planes without a gate. They could check things out and if they find Ra'mash and the – they could bring him back."

"Sir! With all due respect, I need to go with Jacob. I'm the one who will recognize the little weasel and anyway, they're _my_ – uh – embryos."

Sam glanced at him and although she didn't say anything, she was clearly upset about the whole turn of events. Her wretched eyes flashed to the General. "Please Sir – I - would like to go as well."

Hammond took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Colonel, you've barely recovered and I don't think Dr. Frasier would think you're ready for an off world mission. And Major – you went through something pretty serious also. I think you need more time to rest."

"I agree Sam", Jacob added to what the General had said. "You need to rest and get yourself back to peak condition. Don't worry – I'll make sure we find the bastard."

"I appreciate it Dad, but I really do want to go. I want to - help the Colonel."

"I think what she's trying to say Sirs is that she _won't_ rest if she stays behind. Yes Carter and I went through a bit -"

"A _bit_ Jack?" Daniel said incredulously. Jack gave him a dark look.

"Yes Daniel a _bit_. Believe me when I say it could have been much worse. I'm not saying that what we went through was easy, and I'll admit I still have a few nightmares – but it's only going to be worse if we stay here and worry. Getting out and finding the bastard – and getting the embryos back, will go a long way towards us getting better."

"The Colonel's right Sir", Sam pleaded to General Hammond. "I'll go crazy just staying here and waiting. And there's really nothing wrong with me. I'm sure Janet will agree."

Unlike his usual decisive demeanor, Hammond seemed unusually uncertain. His eyes travelled between his two officers, understanding their anxiety and need to be part of this mission, but also having to consider their health and safety. _Were_ they ready to head out into the galaxy, where unknown dangers lurked on every new planet and with every new race they encountered? He blinked, his thoughts clear on his face. He opened his mouth to deny the requests when Jacob spoke.

"I'll look after them George", he said gently. "I really think they need to go."

Hammond let out his breath and closed his eyes for just a second. He could feel a sinking somewhere in his chest – it was always difficult to let men and women go, when he knew how dangerous their jobs really were. Still – could he stop them if they really needed to go? "Okay Jacob – I'll let them go with you. Just bring them back in one piece, okay?"

"Okay George", Jacob smiled and then gave his daughter a wink. She mouthed 'thank you' to her father and then gave a tentative smile to the General.

"Thank you Sir."

"Yes Sir – thank you." For once Jack was not being sarcastic. He knew how difficult a decision this must have been for Hammond and he seriously appreciated the man's trust.

"You're going to have to tell Dr. Frasier", the General warned. "There's no way I'm gonna do it!"

Jack grinned – he didn't blame his CO but it wasn't going to be pretty. "Of course Sir – although you'll protect me if I need it?"

"Nope", Hammond gave a slight grin in return. "I'm going to be in meetings."

"All afternoon General?" O'Neill looked at him with a definite gleam.

"Hell, all week if need be! Now I suggest you go and get yourselves ready. Sg-1, you are to go with Jacob and Selmak of the Tokra. And good luck folks. I hope you find what you're looking for."

* * *

"Are you going to go tell Janet now Sir?" Sam asked as they were walking down the stairs. Jack turned and looked at her incredulously.

"Who me? No way Major." - His face broke into an extremely evil grin. "_You're_ going to tell her."

"Me? But the General said -"

"Uh uh Major", O'Neill interrupted. "It's called _delegation_." He sprinted ahead. "I have faith in you Carter. You'll do a much better job than I would. Janet's your friend. She won't kill you."

"No", she muttered as she turned towards the Infirmary. "But I may just kill _you_ Colonel."

"What was that Major?" O'Neill called after her. "Did you say something?"

"No Sir."

"Good. I'll see you in a bit Carter."

"You're an evil man O'Neill", Jacob said to him as he watched his daughter disappear down the hall. "One day she'll get you for that you know."

"I know", Jack grinned. "I look forward to it. I'm sure she'll be very inventive about it too."

"And you don't mind?"

"Mind? Hell no. I'll deserve whatever she does and I'll enjoy seeing her – uh -"

"Loosen up?"

Jack thought briefly of the day – night - she'd showed up at his house and the fact that she'd spent the night with him. "Yup", he said, "I can hardly wait."

* * *

"So, we all ready to go campers?" Jack eyed his team carefully, even after all these years together. It wasn't that he didn't trust them – to the contrary, he trusted them with his life – it was more that he felt a deep responsibility to always ensure they were prepared and that they would be safe. It had become a routine for them after years travelling together – a routine all of them counted on.

"All ready Jack. How about you?"

"Yup – as ready as I'll ever be. Okay Jacob", he turned to the other man. "Lead on!"

They were travelling to the latest Tokra base on the planet Balla. As soon as they arrived they'd pick up the Tel'tak which would then fly them to the first planet on the list. As Jack walked up the ramp in the SGC he took one final look back, seeing Hammond and Dr. Frasier standing side by side in the Control room. Although Hammond looked concerned, it was Frasier's look of fear that almost stopped him. She knew that he wasn't in any shape to be doing this, but she also knew that there was little she could do to prevent him from going. He lifted an arm to her – telling her he understood – but that he'd also be careful. She nodded at him – which in some strange way felt almost like a blessing. With that he turned and walked through the event horizon.

It would take them a day to get to the first planet – some name Jack couldn't even pronounce. Jacob told them all to get comfortable, which for Teal'c meant sitting down to meditate, for Daniel meant pulling out a book, and for Sam her laptop. Jack wandered over to where Jacob was flying the ship and sat down beside him.

Jacob glanced at him and then focused his eyes forward, out into the vastness of space. "You okay?" he asked.

Jack opened his mouth to give a glib answer, but knew Jacob didn't deserve that. He'd gone to a lot of trouble to help them and at the least he deserved honesty. "I'm getting there", he said. "Still have a few nightmares, but they'll eventually go away."

The other man nodded and then quickly looked around at where his daughter was sitting. "How about Sam? Has she said anything?"

"Uh – not much." Jack certainly wasn't going to give away any confidences – not that Sam _had_ said much, although she had opened up at his house that night. Still, he could understand Jacob's worry and wanted to give the man something. "She was affected by the whole thing, although fortunately they seemed to treat her okay." At least they had while she was awake, but Jack was not going to say anything about that to Jacob. "She'll be okay – she's one of the strongest people I know."

"Yeah", Jacob sighed. "Still, I wish –"

"You and me both", Jack agreed quietly. "This is a helluva thing. I just hope we find that guy quickly and get this over with."

"Jack, if you do get them back – the embryos - what are you going to do with them?"

He noticed that it was hard for Jacob to talk about the embryos – just like it was for all of them. It was such a bizarre situation! "I don't know", Jack finally answered. "I've tried – not to think about it too much. I know we'll - I'll - have to make some kind of decision, but right now all I want to do is capture the ass hole who did this."

"Yeah, I get it. We'll do everything we can to find him and hopefully you won't have to worry anymore after that."

"Thanks Jacob." The two men sat in companionable silence, simply looking out the window at the stars, when suddenly Jacob spoke.

"You're met Pete, right?" he asked.

"Uh – once or twice." Jack looked at him curiously, wondering what this was about.

Jacob turned to him, a surprised look on his face. "That's all? I thought you guys got together regularly for team nights and such. Sam used to talk about them all the time."

"Really?" Now Jack was surprised. He was also felt a sense of - loss. Those had been such good times – but they'd practically stopped when Sam met the cop. "Uh – she doesn't bring him to too many things", Jack explained. "I don't think Pete feels very comfortable with us."

"He doesn't? Why the hell not? You're not being a jerk to him, are you?"

"Who _me_?" Jack looked at him indignantly. "I've been nothing but nice to the guy – the couple of times I saw him. And so have Daniel and Teal'c." He paused and then looked at the Tokra next to him. "I think maybe it's Sam who's uncomfortable", he confessed. "She wanted - normal – and that's Pete and his friends and his life. We're – not very normal."

Jacob snorted. "You can say that again. Still, Sam has never been that conventional", he mused. "She was always the one who hung around with the – less popular, more interesting ones. I just don't get why she's marrying the man. He seems exactly the kind she'd get bored with in a month."

This time it was Jack who sighed. He really didn't want to be having this conversation. "Well, she seems happy so I guess that's what counts. And I'm sure he's a good guy. I can't imagine Carter going out with a jerk."

Jacob's eyes snaked over to him. "You must not have met Jonas Hanson", he said, a strange note in his voice.

"Actually, I did. Man practically killed me and our team. He _did_ kill some of his own men."

"Definitely a jerk", Jacob said darkly.

"Okay – so maybe she's gone out with one jerk. That doesn't mean that Pete's one."

"And then there was Todd Farrow."

"Who's Todd Farrow?" Jack looked at him out of narrowed eyes.

"High School. He's serving a 10 year sentence for fraud."

"Okay – but she was young. Kids make mistakes."

"Barry Weintraub."

"Okay – I'll bite."

"After Hanson. I think he's still working at Walmart. He was a genius, but I'm pretty sure he had some kind of severe personality disorder or something."

"Alright – you've made your point Jacob. Sam doesn't always pick the right guy, but I haven't seen or heard of anything that's wrong with Pete." Great – now Jacob had him defending Carter's fiancé for god's sake!

"Not yet", the other man said darkly. "Just wait. They all turn in the end."

"Now you're just sounding like some Gothic novel. They'll. Be. Fine."

"Why don't you go talk to her Jack? Now's a good time."

"You want me to _talk_ to her? About _Pete_?"

"Well, not about Pete exactly, but she respects you and she'll listen to you. Maybe you can make her see sense."

Jack simply stared at the man, wondering if he had any idea at all why that so was not a good thing. "Uh, I don't interfere in my team members' lives Jacob." Okay, so he didn't need to know that that wasn't exactly true. In terms of Carter and Shanahan though, it definitely was.

"How about your friends'?" Jacob said, turning to him swiftly.

"Look - she's made her decision and we have to respect that. It's not - I can't - it's her choice Jacob."

Sam's father shrugged and looked ahead, his expression showing his irritation and his worry. Jack really wished there was something he could do, but in this case there really wasn't.

"I guess I'll get up for a bit", Jack finally said to the other man. "Shout if you need me."

"Sure Jack. Uh - I didn't mean -"

"T'sokay. I know you worry about her but - she's a strong woman. She'll make the right decision". With that he got up and moved away from the front of the Tel'tak. Heading into the back section he saw Daniel reading his book.

"Hey Daniel", he said, squatting down beside his friend. "Whatcha doin'?"

Daniel gave him an irritated glance and held up his book.

Jack turned his head sideways so he could read the print. "Hmm - sounds interesting - NOT!" He settled in beside the archaeologist and proceeded to bug him by wadding up small pieces of paper that were in his pocket and tossing them at him.

"Will you _stop that_ Jack", Daniel ground out in frustration. "Why don't you go bug Teal'c or Jacob."

"Nah - you're more fun", he grinned.

With a sigh Daniel put his book down beside him. "Okay fine. Let's talk." He almost laughed at Jack's sudden wary expression.

"About what?' the other man said.

"I don't know. You're the one who was bugging me." After eyeing the older man for a few more moments he shook his head slightly. "Uh - have you talked to Sam?"

"Carter? About what?"

"Don't act so clueless. You know about what. This has to be pretty heavy for you guys and I just thought it might be good to talk to her. You know, you're going to have to make some decisions when we catch up with Ra'mash."

Jack scowled at his friend. He sounded just like Jacob. What was it about these guys who wanted to make him _talk_? Still, when he thought about it, which he'd tried not to do, he realized that they were right. He did need to talk to her, and now was as good a time as any.

"Okay fine", he said, sounding thoroughly ticked off. With a sigh that sounded almost like a groan, he gave Daniel one last dirty look, stood and headed towards where Sam was sitting, still working on the computer. Daniel looked after him with a grin and returned to his book.

He let himself down to the floor – gently – and sat next to her, his legs crossed. Definitely not the most comfortable position. "So."

"Colonel?" She glanced at him in surprise. "Is there something I can do for you Sir?"

"Yeah – no – uh maybe."

"O-kay Colonel", Sam answered, looking and feeling confused. She simply looked at her CO and waited, hoping he'd get to the point quickly.

"Your father thinks we should talk", he said quickly, drumming his fingers lightly against the floor.

Sam watched his long fingers as they tapped out a beat. "Talk? About what?"

"About -", he waved a hand around, "You know."

"I do?" She looked at him with puzzled eyes.

"You know Carter - about the – uh _embryos_?"

"Oh." Damn, why couldn't her father stay out of her business? "What are we supposed to talk about?"

"He thinks we should make some kind of a decision about them now – in case we're forced with – you know, something urgent."

"But I have no idea what decision I even _want_ to make."

"I know", Jack sighed. He glanced up briefly at the woman by his side. "Have you -"

"Have I?"

"I don't know – thought about the idea of the – embryos?"

Sam sucked in a breath and suddenly felt shaky. "Uh – a bit."

He nodded and began to pick at the hem of his pants. "Yeah, me too."

"And what –"

"What did I think about?" he asked, finally raising his head and looking at her with a crooked smile. "I guess about the possibility of – a kid."

"Me too", she said, so softly that he could barely hear her. "I – it's not something I really thought about before, but now – I kind of like the idea of motherhood."

"Yeah, but the baby wouldn't be Pete's", Jack reminded her gently. "I mean – well – you know."

She nodded but didn't say anything. How could she possibly tell him that she was _glad_ it wasn't Pete's? How could she tell him that the thought of having a baby with _him_ was what made her feel happy and excited.

"I know – but I guess it doesn't really matter. I mean, it _would_ be mine."

"And mine Carter", he told her softly, but firmly. "There's no way I'm gonna lose touch with my child – if – we – uh – hell, you know."

"I know." She reached out and touched his cheek. "You have to know I'd never do that to you. We're definitely in this together."

"So – what do we do with the damn things when we find them?"

"Bring them here. I'm sure there's somewhere we can store them. I don't – I really don't think I could destroy them."

He nodded, feeling a sudden sense of relief. "Me neither", he agreed. "So – if – _when_ we find them we'll take them back and have then stored."

She nodded – but looked teary eyed. This was the best way she was sure, although why she felt so sad all of a sudden, she didn't know.

"We'd all better get some sleep", Jack suddenly announced. "We're gonna have a busy day tomorrow."

As he curled up on the floor, his sleeping back draped over top of himself, he couldn't help but think back to the other evening. He much preferred curling up with Sam.


	12. The Market

_**So sorry – on the road again with no time and limited email access!**_

_**Thank you to all the reviewers of the last chapter who caught my huge mistake! I wasn't quite sure how to fix it, so finally decided I would have to rewrite some of the previous chapter to correct my mistake. I suggest that all of you (who haven't already read my repost) go back to the last chapter and read it again as I have made some changes. So sorry about this folks.**_

"We've arrived folks", Jacob called. "Time to check out planet number one."

Jack stood and walked over to the front of the Tel'tak and looked out the clear view screen to the planet far below. "You're sure this is the most likely planet?"

"We don't know a lot about it other than the fact that Nirrti had one of her main laboratories here. The Tokra has been too busy keeping up with everything going on in the galaxy to check out every planet once controlled by a dead Goa'uld." Jacob checked his controls, not looking at Jack as he spoke.

Jack's face had blanched, his mind flooded with images of Nirrti and some of the things she'd done. "Do we know what kind of things she did here?" Jack asked. He really didn't want to end up on a planet with a bunch of mutants with super powers.

"Not really, although there were reports it had to do with developing extraordinary physical strength. No one reported seeing any of the actual results and the planet was well guarded in her time." Jacob swung around in his chair and glanced over at the Colonel. "I guess now's your time to find out."

"Okay everyone", O'Neill announced to his teammates. "We don't know what we're going to find here, but Jacob informs me that good old Nirrti may have been creating a bunch of super-strong people. Take care and watch each other's backs."

"We always do O'Neill", Teal'c said calmly.

Jack gave him a swift grin. "I know buddy – just sayin'."

Teal'c nodded and waited with the others for Jacob to ring them down.

"Ok –ay", Jack did a 360 of the small square into which the rings deposited them. It was surrounded on all sides by simple two story, red-hued buildings. At each corner a narrow path led back, most likely further into the city. "Kind of quiet."

"There doesn't appear to be anyone present", Teal'c said, stating the obvious.

Daniel frowned and began to move forward, stopped when Jack grabbed his arm. "Wait a second", he said. "Let's figure out what we've got here."

"But there's no one around", Daniel said, sighing in frustration.

"You know better than that Daniel", Sam told him, carefully perusing the empty square. "This could easily be an ambush."

"Yeah right", the archaeologist muttered. "They figured out we were coming and so all rushed and hid", he scoffed.

"Maybe", Jack agreed seriously. He gave a quick glance at his friend and sometimes irritating team member. "What if they have equipment that saw the Tel'tak", he said softly.

"Sorry", Daniel sighed, knowing he was in the wrong. "Okay, so what are we going to do?"

"Let's split up", the Colonel answered. "You and Teal'c head in that direction – maybe knock on some doors. Carter and I will head over there", he pointed with his chin, "and do the same. And -"

"I know, I know – we'll watch our backs", Daniel gave a sheepish grin and headed off with Teal'c.

Jack watched after him for just a few seconds, pleased when he saw Daniel pull out his weapon and look around carefully.

"He knows what he's doing Sir", Carter said in his ear.

"Yeah, I know", he grinned. "He only occasionally forgets– he just needs a bit of a reminder now and then. Shall we Major", he gestured with his hand towards the buildings on the opposite side from where Daniel and Teal'c were headed.

For the first few minutes they saw and heard nothing. It appeared as if everything was deserted. "Do you think there's anyone here?" Sam asked, keeping a close eye on the darkened shadows around them. They'd decided to investigate down one of the narrow streets and very little light seemed to make its way in.

"Doesn't look like it, does it", Jack was also watching carefully, hating the feeling of being closed in on two sides. "Feels like a western movie", he suddenly said. "I almost expect a bad guy dressed in black to appear at the end of the street, a pistol in hand."

Sam couldn't help but grin at the picture, although her concentration didn't waiver. "You're right, that's exactly what it feels like. Maybe John Wayne or Clint Eastwood will show up to save us."

"You don't think I'll do?" Jack grinned over at her. "You don't see me as a hero out of a western?"

She considered him for a moment and then nodded seriously. "Actually Sir – you'd be perfect. I can see you on a horse."

He grinned again and opened his mouth to say something when a 'bang' to his right stopped him dead. With a quick look and a gesture to Sam he moved quickly to the side of the doorway from where the sound had originated.

He held up three of his fingers and slowly counted down to one. When he was finished he moved quickly and kicked in the door. Sam moved over to the side, covering him with her weapon.

Without a pause Jack rushed through the door, getting in and out of the open doorway as quickly as possible. It was then he stopped dead.

Staring at him from a corner of the room were a group of – men, although Jack didn't know if that was even accurate. They were obviously sentient beings, but were so deformed as to barely resemble humans. He felt the nausea rise in his throat – this was clearly more evidence of Nirrti's doing.

"Plzzzze", one of them wailed, his arm outstretched in entreaty.

"Sir?" Sam's agonized voice pulled him out of his horrified stare.

"Nirrti", he growled in reply. "God – DAMN her!" The creatures backed away at his shout, huddling together in obvious fear.

"I think you're frightening them Sir", Sam said softly. She took a tentative step forward, causing the group to move back again. She stopped then and smiled. "It's okay", she said gently. "We won't hurt you. What are your names?"

Jack watched as Sam used her magic to calm the beings down. It took a few minutes, and they were still skittish, but at least seemed willing to communicate.

Understanding them was difficult as their facial deformities made speaking difficult. Because of their slurred speech it took Jack a few minutes to realize that these – people – were intelligent, not the simple creatures he'd first thought them to be.

He shook his head, disgusted at himself for jumping to conclusions just because of someone's appearance. You think he'd know better by now.

"How many of you are there?" Jack finally asked. It was all well and good for Carter to make them feel at ease, but they needed some answers, which they'd only get if he asked them directly.

"Twoo dzn", one of them – apparently the leader – answered.

"Two _dozen_?" Jack repeated. "On the whole planet?"

The man nodded again. "Thrs – de- ed",

"They've all died?" Carter asked carefully. She gave a quick look towards the Colonel. "Are there any other people here, or just you?"

"Jst – we", he answered.

Jack let out a deep breath. This certainly wouldn't be a planet for Ra'mash to find surrogates. He gave another look at the poor pathetic souls gazing at him with hope. But damn – they couldn't just leave these guys here. From the look of them they were half starved. He sighed. "Uh – do you need help?"

The men – there were five of them – swiftly looked at one another and then the leader faced him. "Plzze".

"Sir?" Carter was regarding him with no expression on her face. "Uh – how?" she asked. She knew they didn't have the supplies or people to help – and they needed to find Ra'mash before it was too late.

Jack ran his hand through his hair, leaving it sticking straight up into the air. Sam had to bite her lip to keep from smiling – although a quick glance at Nirrti's victims stopped that urge quickly. "What are we going to do?"

"We're going to have Jacob get in touch with his Tokra buddies. If they won't help then we'll have to put out an emergency call to the Asgard.

Sam nodded and then smiled at the men in the corner. "We're going to get some help for you, okay?"

"Kay", one of them hissed. "Tax."

"You're welcome", she said. "It may take a while for someone to come – but it doesn't mean we've forgotten you, okay? It may just be a little while."

The leader nodded and watched as the two of them made their way out of the small room, back out into the street.

"God – that's so -"

"Disgusting", Jack interrupted. "I mean disgusting that someone could hurt other human beings like that – not that they're disgusting." He stopped for a moment, obviously extremely touched by what he'd seen. "Well make sure and get them help." With that Jack clicked his radio until Teal'c finally answered.

"Anything Teal'c?"

"Nothing as of yet O'Neill", the alien replied. "We have seen little of interest."

"Okay then, let's get out of here. This place gives me the creeps."

"What are 'creeps', O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, a puzzled frown on his face.

"Uh – it just means that it uh – was kind of creepy."

Teal'c raised his eyebrows in confusion, looking down at the radio in his hand.. It was Sam's voice which finally put him out of his misery.

"It simply means the place made us uncomfortable Teal'c", she explained. "It's like a ghost town."

Jack walked swiftly towards the rendezvous site where Teal'c and Daniel were waiting. "We found a handful of survivors", he told them.

"Really?" Daniel's eyes perked up. "Where are they?" he started to look around at the still empty square. "Did you speak with them?"

"They're back there", Jack gestured with his head over his shoulder. "And yes, we spoke with them. Didn't get much information except that they were used in Nirrti's experiments."

It was only then that Daniel seemed to hear the throbbing anger in Jack's voice. His brown folded. "What happened?"

"They were terrified", Sam explained, following the Colonel quickly as he strode through the dusty square as if he couldn't get off this planet soon enough. She rather understood the feeling. "They'd been - uh – changed as a result and I think are having a hard time surviving. The Colonel promised we'd send help."

"Jack?" Daniel looked at him in surprise.

"What Daniel?" the Colonel kept moving quickly, wanting to get to the pick-up site as quickly as possible.

"_Did_ you offer to help?"

"No", Jack answered sharply. At Daniel's look of surprise he relaxed slightly and relented. "I told them we'd send the Tokra or the Asgard to help them."

"Really?"

"Yes, really", Jack snapped. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Sam quietly grabbed Daniel's arm and leaned towards him. "Nirrti – left the people – horribly mutilated", she whispered. "The Colonel is upset." Daniel glanced at her suspiciously. She didn't look much better herself.

When they arrived back on the Tel'tak Jack quickly explained to Jacob that they needed to send help to the planet.

"Uh Jack, I don't know if the Tokra really have time -"

"Then they can make time", Jack turned on him in anger. "Those people need help – either yours or the Asgard. "I wanna hear that you've contacted someone and they're on the way." He turned and stomped away, dropping his pack against the wall. He swiftly followed it to the floor, leaning back against the wall with his head thrown back and his eyes closed.

Jacob stared at him for a moment and then glanced at his daughter. "Uh -"

"Do as he says Dad", she said softly. "They'll die if they don't get help soon."

Nothing was said for a long time although Jacob did send a message to the Tokra. It was a couple of hours before he heard anything back from them.

"Jack", the older man called softly, not wanting to disturb Daniel and Sam, both of whom were sleeping.

The Colonel slowly stood up and stretched and then wandered over to where Jacob was seated. "Yeah?"

"I just heard that the Asgard are going to stop by the planet and offer their help."

"Thanks Jacob." Jack sat down beside the former General. "Sorry if I was a bit -"

Jacob waved him off. "No, you weren't." He glanced sideways at the tired looking man next to him. "You okay?"

"Yeah", Jack took a deep breath. "I just wish this was over", he said. "I'd rather be fishing", he gave a lop-sided grin.

"We'll find him Jack, don't worry."

After a week of checking out the various planets that had been under Nirrti's control Jack _did_ begin to worry. What if they didn't find Ra'mash? Could he live with the fact that children of his were out there – being raised by others as slaves or even – although he hoped to god it wouldn't come to that – as hosts. It was true that the Goa'uld empire was in decline and one after another of the Systems Lords were dying, but there were still worlds inhabited by lesser Goa'uld. It would be many years – generations even – before they died out completely.

If that happened – if they didn't find Ra'mash and the embryos, he'd just have to live with the knowledge, like he lived with so much other crap. He knew how to do it – how to box it up. His eyes found Sam and he flinched. God, he didn't want her to have to do that too. How would she cope?

"Sir?" she blinked at him, disturbed by his intense look. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah Carter, I'm fine. Just thinkin'." He watched as she slowly came over and plunked herself down beside him.

"We're not going to find him, are we?"

"Hey, it's too early to be thinking that way", he told her, nudging her shoulder with his. "Think positively major. We still have a couple of planets to go of Jacob's original six and then there are some others he figured might be likely. We'll find him, I promise."

"You can't promise that Sir", she said with a short laugh.

"Sure I can Carter", he told her. "Just stop worrying and everything will be fine."

"But what if -"

"Uh uh", he warned her. "No 'what ifs'. We're gonna find him and strangle him and then head home."

"And the – "

"We'll make sure to get them Sam", he said gently, nudging her again. "Now just relax."

Just then Teal'c, who had taken over the piloting duties from Jacob, called back. "We have arrived", he informed everyone.

"Okay", Jack pushed himself to his feet and then reached down with his hand to help Sam. "So, what's the name of this one?"

"This is Teknora", Jacob told him. "It was a trading planet – probably still is. It had relatively more freedom than most planets under a Goa'uld's dominion. It was in their best interests to turn a blind eye to a lot of things in order to keep business going."

Jack snorted. "Things are the same here as on earth then. Anything for a buck!"

"Yup", Jacob agreed. "Now, I suggest you all change. There are clothes in the closets over there. You definitely don't want to appear wearing your Earth clothing. It might be easily recognized as there are probably folks from all over the galaxy here."

"As long as I don't have to wear robes or a loin cloth!" Jack complained. He'd been forced to wear both at different times in their travels. "Although if I have a choice I'll go with the robe."

"Oh, I don't know Sir", Sam grinned. "I kind of liked that little outfit you wore on P7T 3R9."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "P7T -?"

"You remember Jack – the one where you had to do that dance?" Daniel grinned as the scowl appeared on the older man's face.

"About as much as I remember P4I 8RS – _you _remember guys? The one where you both had to strip -"

"We remember Jack", Daniel answered, his cheeks flushing. Jack looked at Carter and couldn't help the bark of laughter that escaped him. She was as red as a cherry.

"I suggest you get dressed", Jacob told them drily. "Teal'c's already finished."

Jack checked out his friend and sighed in relief. Teal'c was wearing some kind of loose pants with a tunic over top. It actually looked rather comfortable and not at all embarrassing. He picked his out and went into the little room the Tel'tak provided as a bathroom. Daniel followed him in and they both quickly changed.

"There ya go Carter", Jack said merrily as he walked out. He had been right – the clothing was comfortable. He watched as Carter when to change, a bundle in her arms. "What's she wearing?" he asked, trying not to sound hopeful. He didn't want her to feel uncomfortable, but he rarely saw her in anything other than a uniform or jeans and couldn't help his treacherous male – interest – that wanted to see her in something – damn! She'd come out of the bathroom dressed in almost the identical clothing of pants and tunic that he wored. The only difference to theirs being that there was a small trim of embroidery around the wrists and ankles.

"Is there a problem?" Sam looked down worriedly at Jack's frown. Had she missed something? She'd be embarrassed if she discovered her fly was open or something. Of course this outfit didn't exactly _have _a fly but –

"No – no Carter, everything's good – fine – great." Jack closed his eyes and counted to five. "Sorry – just wondering about the planet."

He didn't have to wonder long as Jacob ringed them down on the outskirts of the city. They took one look around and could instantly tell this was a much different place than anything they'd yet visited.

"Wow", Daniel whistled. "They look like they're doing a roaring business here."

"They do indeed", Jack said, carefully checking out the crowd that was milling around some of the stalls. Off to his left was a clear path to what looked like the ocean or sea a short distance away. When he refocused on the sight before him he had a sudden longing to turn and head towards the water and forget about this part of it. "Come on folks – let's see if we can buy something."

They wandered around the market for the next hour. Fortunately Jacob had provided them with some currency – the kind that was used for interplanetary trade. "Buy some things", he'd told them, "otherwise you're going to stand out. Just look at things, enjoy, buy a little and then you can start asking questions."

"You're telling us to spread some money around first, before speaking with anyone."

"That's right. You'll get farther that way. They tread in information on these planets, as much as anything, but they have to have some trust in you first."

So, here they were, buying trinkets on a planet thousands of light years away from home. He purchased some jewelry for Cassie and Janet – and a bracelet for Sam. It was a small one – nothing special or fancy – and he didn't think she would object or be offended. Instead, when she looked at it he could see her eyes fill with tears. He felt instantly guilty until she looked up with a smile.

"It's beautiful Sir – thank you."

He shrugged,, suddenly embarrassed. "Hey, I'd better buy something for Daniel so he doesn't get jealous", he said quickly, wanting to change the subject.

"Well, I wouldn't suggest jewelry", she told him, a giggle in her voice.

"No?" He started looking at all the tables, filled with a combination of pure junk with a few good pieces thrown in. What in the world could he buy Daniel – or Teal'c for that matter?

"Aha!" he saw something at a small table on the other side of the street and hurried over, Sam in quick pursuit. He picked up an object from the table and lovingly stroked it.

"What's that Sir?" Sam said, moving up beside him. "Oh – it's a chess set. How lovely."

And it was lovely. It was made of some kind of luminescent stone, intricately carved into the shapes of various animals. The black players were made of some kind of onyx and the white players looked like they were made of marble. It was a beautiful set and he wanted it for Daniel.

After haggling with the salesman for almost ten minutes, Jack finally purchased it at a price both he and the merchant could feel good about. He watched at the man carefully wrapped the set in rags and placed the pieces in a small, covered basket.

Once finished with that, Jack had one more stop to make and that was to buy a present for Teal'c. In the end he picked up a ceremonial dagger that had been owned, at one time, by someone called the Gryph. He could only assume that this Gryph had 'shuffled off this mortal coil and no longer needed his dagger."

"There, all done. Now, I think it's time we started asking about good old Ra'mash."

For the rest of the day they continued to wander around the town – sometimes stopping to grab a snack or to look like they were still shopping. They began asking carefully and subtly about Ra'mash, but know one had seen or heard anything from such a man.

Jack was about ready to give up – his feet were killing him and he didn't want to do anymore shopping. He watched Sam as she seemed to pick up energy the more the day went on. Jack briefly wondered if it was because she was younger than him or whether it was that women – some women anyway – had a natural 'shopping' gene that men lack. He thought back to Sara and how she could spend hours in the mall while he'd collapse after the first hour.

He watched indulgently as Sam entered yet another clothing boutique and began to look through the items on display. He checked out the area and found a bench to sit on from where he could still see the small store and rest.

He groaned as he sat down and stretched his legs. He thought about Teal'c and Daniel and hoped they were having better luck that he and Carter were. He was about ready to head back to the Tel'tak, pretty sure that Ra'mash had never been on Teknora .

"You are waiting for your woman", the man who sat next to Jack on the small bench looked totally respectable, if also a bit tired.

"Uh – my friend – yes", he answered, looking curiously at the younger man.

"That is why this bench is here", the other man informed him with a grin. "There were too many husbands dropping from heat. My woman is over there," he pointed to a youngish woman holding a small child by the hand. "She can go for many trisecs without stopping."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

Jack wouldn't have said much more, but the young man turned out to be a talkative sort. He introduced himself as Dar'on but after that Jack only listened with half an ear. It was a few minutes later that something he said finally caught his attention.

"I'm sorry – I missed that. What did you say?" Jack turned expectantly to the other man.

"Just that your woman is beautiful", Dar'on answered, "with her golden hair. You do not see that often. There was a man here who was looking for women such as her. He was offering good coin." It was only after he'd stopped speaking that he seemed to realize what he'd just implied. "I didn't mean it like that", he said in a rush. "I was not implying that your woman is of easy virtue. I think the man – he wanted the women to do something for him – oh, nothing bad I don't think but –" his voice faded as he realized he was digging himself into a deeper hole. What he didn't notice was Jack staring at him.

"Who was he", he asked. "The man?"

"The one who was looking for a woman?"

"Yes, yes – that one. What was he like?"

"Well, he was rather short for a man – quite short in fact. He also had this long black hair", the young man shuddered.

"Do you know his name?"

The young man frowned, his attention still on the figure of the blond woman seen through the boutique's window. "No, I didn't hear it. I just heard him asking if there were any women who wanted to make good coin doing a service for him."

"Did he find anyone?"

"Not here, not that I know", his companion said, looking at him strangely.

Jack realized he must sound too anxious so he forced himself to calm down. "Uh – he left then, did he?"

"Yes." The man nodded and didn't speak for a moment, seeming to size Jack up. After a while he appeared to relax again. "I think they told him to go to Radalla."

"Radalla? What's there?"

"That is a town about fifty paltar's from here. It is very poor – there is little in the way of crops or minerals. Someone suggested that he would be more likely to find a woman there in need of coin."

"How do I – you – how does one get there?" Jack asked, trying desperately to sound casual.

"You can hire a cart." Dar'on gestured down the street. "If you go there, and turn north at the next street you will come upon a man who hires out carts."

"Thank you!" Just then Jack saw Sam coming out, a new parcel in her arms. She gave him a sheepish grin and shrugged. "Sorry Sir – couldn't help myself." It was only then that she realized Jack was bouncing up and down on his feet and looked as if something serious had happened. "What is it?" she placed her hand on his forearm. "Tell me please – what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong", he placed his hand over hers, keeping it effectively locked on his arm. "I think I may have found Ra'mash. At least, I know where he's gone."


	13. The Surrogate

_**I should simply insert a standard apology at the beginning of all my chapters - sigh! I am really sorry for how long it's taking me to update this story. I simply have too many things going on right now - including travelling every week. I hope you'll forgive me! Oh - and (here's my standard shameless plug) reviews**_**do make me write faster! If you're very good I'll post another chapter tomorrow and at least one on the weekend!**

"So how are you planning to get there Jack?" They'd met up with Daniel and Teal'c to tell them what they'd discovered. "You said you could rent a cart?"

"Yeah, although it might be easier to simply have Jacob ring us up and back down again. The guy told me it's about fifty paltar's from here."

Daniel stared at him. "I see – and that's a long way?"

"I have no idea", Jack admitted. "Carter?"

"Uh – sorry Sir – I don't know either. I'm afraid we'll have to ask someone. You said the town was called Radalla?"

"Yeah – although I think it's more like a village than a town. I guess it's pretty poor – some kind of local mining town I think. So, who's gonna ask?"

"I shall enquire O'Neill", Teal'c offered. They usually found that Teal'c got answers more quickly than any of them – either that or he caused people to run away in fear. Since no one had run from him yet today, they figured it was safe.

He returned a few minutes later, his normal unperturbed expression settled on his face. "It is approximately two hours distance from here."

"Good – hey, they don't use hours so how did you figure that out?" Jack wanted to know.

"The person I spoke with was able to understand a common Goa'uld measurement of time. I simply translated that into human time."

"Oh – good. So – two hours. That's not bad. Probably just as easy to take a cart rather than wait for Jacob to pick us up in some hidden spot and then try and put us back down without being seen."

So, in the end they rented the cart – along with the animal to drive it. The cart looked similar to a nineteenth century one from Earth. The animal looked like a cross between a horse and a camel – a very ugly horse and an even uglier camel.

Jack looked it over – walking from nose to tail. "Hmm", he muttered as he put his hand on the animal, acting as if he knew what he was doing. He squinted up at the merchant. "You want us to pay_ how_ much for this thing? I doubt it will get us half way there!"

The merchant started arguing and waving his arms around, claiming that although the animal was ugly, it was tough and smart. "It will get you twice the distance", he cried. "He is a good, strong animal – one of my best!"

"Really? I'd hate to see your other ones. No – I won't pay that much for this thing. I think someone said we could get carts a couple of streets down so -"

The merchant interrupted him, still waving his arms around. This time though he agreed to come down in price, claiming to offer Jack an incredible deal.

"Twenty?" Jack laughed. "How about ten?"

The arguing went on for another few moments and in the end Jack paid sixteen durants – a far cry from the thirty the man had originally asked for. He jumped up into the driver's seat, confidently taking the reins while Teal'c sat beside him and Sam and Daniel got into the back.

"Wow – I didn't know you were such a good haggler Jack", Daniel said. It was usually their linguist who did most of the bargaining and Jack usually stood back and let him do it. Carter would sometimes speak – when it looked like she'd get the best reaction (usually from some lovelorn alien), Teal'c was used – as he'd been before – to get quick answers. Jack – well Jack spoke either as their leader – or when they were in trouble. He had sometimes bargained for their lives, very rarely for carts and – whatever the animal was.

"It is a very ugly animal, O'Neill", Teal'c pointed out after they'd been driving for almost twenty minutes.

"Yeah, that it is. I wonder if we should call it a 'corse' or a 'hamel?'" he pondered.

"The locals call it a plodrun", Daniel called from the back.

"A plod-run? Sounds about right – although I think I like hamel better", the Colonel said, watching the rear of the beast as they moved slowly forward.

"Whether it is a plodrun or a hamel – it is very ugly", Teal'c repeated.

Over the course of the next couple of hours the four of them chatted about much of nothing. Jack was feeling increasingly tense the closer they got to the village, and he was pretty sure Sam was as well. She'd grown progressively quieter as time had gone on.

He hoped they'd simply find Ra'mash, that he'd have the embryos and they could take them and get the hell off this planet. It's not that it was a bad place – but Jack was definitely ready to have this thing over with. He figured Carter was feeling the same.

"Looks like a village ahead", Daniel pointed out.

Jack squinted and realized that Daniel was correct. Up ahead – right at the base of a tall, dark looking mountain, were a few scattered houses. Even from this distance they could tell the buildings were run down and poor.

Without saying anything Jack pulled the cart off the road and behind a copse of trees. "I think we should leave this here", he said softly, "In case we need to make a quick getaway."

"Quick? With old Plodder here?" Daniel patted the animal on its rump. However ugly the thing was, it had gotten them here safely, and it seemed a gentle enough beast.

"Yeah – point taken", Jack agreed. "Let's contact Jacob and he can fix on our position and ring us up. That'll be a much better getaway plan."

After contacting Jacob the four of them made their way through the trees until they could see the distant village. There were a few people moving about, although they couldn't tell much from this distance.

"Carter, you and Teal'c stay back and keep watch. Daniel and I'll head in and see what we can find."

She gave a quick nod, and a soft 'yes Sir', in reply, although Jack could tell she really wanted to go into the village with him. He understood her desire, but in this case they really needed Daniel – the master at first contact.

"Shall I make my way to the other side of the village O'Neill? That way it shall be easier to see anyone who may try and escape."

"Yeah – sounds good. Watch your backs out here – we don't know what these people are like."

"You too Sir, Daniel. And I hope you find him."

Jack and Daniel made their way back to the road and, after a quick look around, began to walk towards the buildings. As they grew closer they could see more of the people. It was obvious from the way they dressed and the shape the buildings were in, that the people here lived in poverty.

"Seems a strange place for Ra'mash to come", Daniel said quietly.

"Probably not too easy to find willing – surrogates", Jack said.

"Unless they were slaves and had no choice."

"Yeah, I thought about that. Maybe it's harder to find slaves now that Nirrti is dead."

"I sure hope so!" Daniel answered. "If the people here are as poor as they look, I guess Ra'mash would be able to find someone to – uh – be a surrogate in exchange for money."

When they arrived in the small town people looked at them with curiosity, but no fear. They must get the occasional stranger here and didn't seem too worried about the two men. After a few minutes Jack finally headed towards where a man was standing out in front of some kind of small store. "Okay Daniel, do your stuff", he said quietly.

"Uh – hello", Daniel hailed the man, who was now looking at them without any expression on his face. He was middle aged and looked both tired and careworn. "We're visitors and we're looking for a friend of ours", he said, trying to sound as friendly and open as possible.

The man made an indeterminate sound with his mouth and continued to look at the two. "Yes?" he finally said, when Daniel didn't say anything else.

"Yes – well – we're wondering if you would have seen him?"

The man shrugged. "Maybe."

"He's – uh – short, short with long dark hair. Does he sound familiar?"

"Maybe."

"So, he _does_ sound familiar?"

"I said maybe", the man shrugged again.

"Uh -"

"Daniel", Jack said softly, putting his hand on his friend's arm. "I think maybe we should offer him a few coins – it might improve his memory."

Daniel nodded, wondering why he hadn't thought of that. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a few of the smaller coins and reached out, dropping them into the man's upturned palm. "So, do you recognize my description of the guy?" he asked again.

"Yes."

"Really?" Daniel's eyebrows went up. "You've seen him?"

"Yes – he has been here for two semas."

"Do you know where he is?" Daniel said, sounding excited. Jack was silent, tense with worry and anticipation.

"Maybe", their informant said, jiggling the coins in his hand.

Daniel sighed and pulled out some more of the coins and handed them over. "So – where is he?"

The man gave a flick of his chin, indicating a spot in the distance. "Over there. He's staying in the administrator's house."

"With the – administrator."

The guy laughed. "He's been dead for twenty anales. Nobody lives there – except your man."

Daniel thanked him and gave Jack a look. The Colonel was staring off towards the large house at the very end of the dilapidated street. "Uh Jack? Shall we go check it out?"

"Call Teal'c", he said. "We don't know what's there."

"What about Sam?"

"No – leave her. She can continue to watch out for trouble."

Daniel was looking at him in surprise. Jack never treated Sam differently from his other teammates. In fact, he often relied on her as the other military half of the team. "Are you sure?" he asked. He didn't know what was going on but assumed it had something to do with the embryos."

"Let's go", the Colonel said, ignoring the question. Daniel nodded and radioed Teal'c to tell him to meet them at the house.

Sam watched from behind the trees at the far edge of the town. She saw the Colonel and Daniel approach someone and stay talking for a few minutes. She had no idea what it was about, but neither looked as if they were in danger so she continued to watch. At one point she heard her radio click – Teal'c's prearranged signal to let her know he had arrived safely on the other side of the village.

Sam kept her eyes open for any trouble, but so far everything looked quiet. She saw Daniel and the Colonel head away from the spot where they'd been speaking to the resident towards the far side of the town. She frowned when she saw someone join them right in front of a large home. She was pretty sure it was Teal'c and tried to figure out what the hell was going on. She wanted to grab her radio and call one of her teammates but knew she shouldn't.

The three men approached the front door of the building and, after a few moments disappeared into the house. Crap! Now what was she to do?

So intent was she on what was happening in the town that she didn't hear the faint rustling behind her. If she'd stopped to think about it she probably would have thought it was a small animal anyway. As it was, the sharp pain in her back was the first she realized that someone was there. The thought was brief, however, as within a few short seconds she had fallen to the ground, her sight and hearing going. Her last conscious thought was it was going to serve the Colonel right for leaving her behind.

Jack entered the old house, wincing as his foot hit a squeaky floorboard. Daniel followed close behind with Teal'c making up the rear. So far they hadn't seen or heard anyone, but he knew that didn't mean much, if anything. The alien they pursued could easily be hiding out, aware that people had arrived that were looking for him.

"I don't hear anything", Daniel said softly, echoing Jack's thoughts. "Maybe we're too late."

Jack didn't answer, he just kept moving down the long hallway. It was dark, the windows – or what probably had been windows, now boarded up. It was also dusty and dank, the rot of years having seeped into the building.

They passed a number of rooms as they moved and Jack carefully opened each doorway, finding nothing but more empty, dilapidated rooms. He was almost ready to agree with Daniel when they came to the last door. He reached down to push it open when he heard a soft sound on the other side. He immediately gestured to Teal'c and Daniel, who moved to flank the doorway on each side. With a quick nod Jack threw the door open and stepped quickly to the side.

When it appeared as if nothing – or no one – was going to rush out and intercept them, the three men carefully entered, Jack in the lead, followed by Daniel with Teal'c bringing up the rear.

Jack took a couple of steps into the room and stopped, surprised at what he was seeing. Unlike the rest of the house, this room had been fixed up. It wasn't fancy, but it was clean and it was obvious it had been fitted with some supplies. There was a small cot in one corner and a table with an array of what looked like medical equipment. There was also a metal container over to one side which immediately caught Jack's attention.

That attention quickly shifted however at the sound of a soft whimper. He looked over to a corner where there was a small screen. Looking out from behind it was a face – a face of a young woman.

"Hello", Daniel spoke, figuring he was he least frightening of the three of them. He took a step forward but the woman whimpered again and tried to hide behind the screen, which was too small to do an adequate job. "It's okay – we won't hurt you", he said softly. "We're actually looking for someone else – a man by the name of Ra'mash. Do you know him?"

The woman gazed out at the three intruders for a few more seconds and then nodded. Her eyes moved to the door which caused both Jack and Teal'c to quickly turn. Teal'c walked over to the door and looked down the hallway.

"Nothing", he said. Jack nodded.

"Just keep your eyes open", he instructed the Jaffa. "Daniel?"

"Uh yeah – so you know Ra'mash. Do you happen to know where he went?"

The woman shook her head, still not speaking. She appeared to be a bit less nervous when none of the men made a threatening motion.

"What's your name?" Daniel asked. "I'm Daniel and this is Jack", he indicated the man standing slightly behind him, "and that guy is Teal'c. We really aren't here to hurt you – we just want to find Ra'mash."

After another long pause the woman seemed to move slightly and then spoke. "Saeena. My name is Saeena."

"Hello Saeena. Uh – what are you doing here?"

Her eyes suddenly filled with tears and she slowly stepped out from behind the screen. Looking only at Daniel, who seemed to have inspired some trust, she again spoke. "Ra'mash promised me coin if I helped him", she said. "My family is poor – starving – and so I - I agreed." The tears were flowing more copiously now.

Jack felt a sinking in his stomach, praying that they weren't too late, but knowing it was probably a forlorn hope. "What did you do for him", he asked softly, not wanting to frighten her.

"He didn't tell me", she answered. "I didn't know."

"Didn't know what Saeena?" Daniel said gently.

"That he was giving me a baby", she cried. She held her hand on her stomach. "I don't want a baby – I can't – it will bring shame."

Jack closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Did he – did Ra'mash – did he already – give you this – baby?"

She finally looked at Jack at that point and slowly nodded. "Yes – I am with child."

Ra'mash had known, as soon as the Tauri had escaped, that he would have to flee. His sole desire was to reclaim the regard of his goddess, Nirrti. He lived for that and he would do anything to make it happen.

He knew that creating a Hoktar was her biggest ambition and he also knew that she believed the Tauri would make the best subjects. When he'd found the two Tauri on his planet he had known that this was his chance. They were perfect specimens, even if the man was a bit old. In the long run that didn't matter though. He was strong and obviously a leader. The woman – was simply perfect. She was strong and beautiful and would make the perfect incubator.

His plan was simple. He would harvest her eggs and then fertilize them. Once sure they were perfect specimens, he would implant one of them in the woman – she would be the incubator for the potential Hoktar. That she was also the mother meant little to him.

His plans were almost foiled by the escape of his two subjects. Knowing that they would most likely return at the last minute he was able to retrieve six of the embryos and escape the planet himself. Then all he had to do was find appropriate incubators, implant the embryos and wait for them to be born. Then he would present them to Nirrti and be returned to her favor.

He'd picked Teknora – a likely planet where he wouldn't be noticed. It was a trade planet and he'd been here years ago in service to Nirrti. When he'd arrived he'd tried to find a suitable woman – or women – but had been turned down by everyone he'd approached. Finally someone had told him about Radalla – a poor village a short distance from the city. Although his first choice wasn't to use a poor woman, he knew that it might be his only chance.

He finally decided to set himself up in Radalla – using his carefully horded money to buy help to create a make-shift lab. Next he'd gone looking for women to assist him. He'd found Saeena on his third day in the town and had convinced her to help him. Her family had been grateful – he'd paid them a good amount of money to essentially buy her. He was pretty sure they thought he was buying her to use for sexual favors and she'd been grateful when he'd shown no interest in her.

He'd monitored her for a few days until the time was right. At that point he'd insisted she lie down on the table he'd set up – and he done the implantation. He'd given her something to knock her out so she'd had no idea until it was done.

When he'd told her – insisting that she now was to look after herself carefully – she'd broken down in anguish. It was only then that he found out that for her to bear a stranger's child would make her a cast-out in her community. She couldn't ever go home.

He'd shrugged – not caring as long as she remained healthy. He then went in search of another woman to act as surrogate.

He hadn't expected that the Tauri would follow him, but at the same time he wasn't stupid so he had paid some of the locals to watch for anyone who sought him ought. He'd been walking towards the home of a family with a number of likely daughters when one of his look-outs had come running up to him to tell him that strangers were here searching for him. When he'd heard their descriptions he'd cursed and then he ran.

He'd tried to force Saeena to come with him but she'd resisted and he knew he didn't have time to force her to come. He didn't want to hurt her as that could destroy the child and there was the chance that he could return and reclaim the child at a later date. Making a quick decision, and knowing he had to travel quickly, he grabbed one small container of embryos and a case containing some of his supplies and fled, leaving behind the woman and the rest of the embryos. He swore as he ran, but he still had a chance to create at least one child for Nirrti.

It was as he was running – taking a circuitous route around the town – that he saw a flash of light colored hair in the woods. He stopped suddenly – wondering if he'd just been given a gift. It must be Nirrti, he decided. She had blessed him and was giving him the opportunity to serve her.

As the woman fell to the ground, unconscious, he couldn't help but smile. She had been the perfect incubator and had now been returned to him. Scooping her up in his arms he quickly made his way through the woods. He'd searched the area carefully when he had first arrived and had another place hidden a short way away. If he was in luck he'd be able to do what he needed to do and then flee the planet with the woman. Nirrti would help him evade the Tauri – of that he was sure.


	14. In Time?

"Damn it all to hell!" Jack cursed, rubbing his eyes. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"O'Neill", Teal'c had moved into the room and had opened the container in front of him. He was staring down at it with a frown.

"What is it?" Jack walked over and looked into the metal container. "What the -?"

"I believe this is where he kept the embryos", Teal'c said gently, showing the others the inside of the container. It held three smaller containers with empty slots for more. "It appears as if there are only three of them here."

"Three?" Jack looked down, confused and unsure of what to do. "But there are supposed to be five more. Do you think – did he implant the other two as well?"

"He did not", Saeena's soft voice interrupted the two men, who both turned and looked at her.

"How do you know?" Jack asked.

"There were six to begin with – Ra'mash told me that. I did not know what they were, just that to him they were important. After – after he finished with me he said there were still five remaining."

"Five? But – then where are the others?" Jack frowned at her, trying to make sense of what was happening.

"He took them", Saeena told them. "There _were_ five left – he showed me when he told me I was to have a child. But he came – just before you arrived – and took two of the smaller containers. He was muttering about leaving some, but said he couldn't take them all."

"He was just here?" Jack practically shouted. "Why the hell didn't you tell us?"

"Jack", Daniel said carefully. "She didn't know who we were – and you're scaring her."

"_I'm_ scaring _her_?" Jack bit back. "I'm the one whose – he stole my – and he already implanted one in her. Daniel, she's _carrying -", he stopped, unable to continue._

"I know Jack", Daniel walked over and put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "And I'm sorry – but getting mad at her won't help."

"I know, I know", Jack answered, rubbing his face again. He lifted his radio. "Maybe Carter has seen him. We'll have to find him before he makes it to the gate." He clicked his radio and called for Sam. After a moment he frowned and tried again. "Come on Carter – where are you?"

After a few more tries, with no answer, Daniel and then Teal'c tried their radios. "She is not answering O'Neill."

"Crap! Something's happened. Daniel, you stay here with Sa – the girl – and make sure no one takes those things", he pointed to the container with the remaining embryos. "Teal'c and I are going to find out what's happened."

They rushed to where they'd left Sam but it was quickly apparent that she was gone. Teal'c knelt down on the ground and looked at the marks. "She fell", he said, "and then was picked up. She was carried in that direction."

"God – I hope she's okay", Jack answered, swiftly moving in the direction Teal'c had indicated.

"There was no blood. I suspect she was stunned and taken by Ra'mash. He most likely plans to use her as a hostage."

"Great – this day is getting better and better. Let's see if we can get Jacob to locate them." He pulled out the communicator and swiftly contacted Sam's father. Once he had explained the situation a worried sounding Jacob told them he'd see what he could do and would get back to them. "Although it's like looking for a needle Jack. I don't have anything that can locate a specific individual, it will only show me lifeforms, but not who it is."

"I know Jacob, but just look for two people on their own, close to the village."

While waiting for Jacob to get back to them they continued to follow the trail leading away from the point where Sam had been captured. After a few minutes they came to a stream, surrounded on both sides with a wide path of pebbles and small rocks.

"I have lost the trail O'Neill", Teal'c admitted after a few moments. "I expect he entered the stream, but I do not see a trail leaving it on the other side. We may have to follow the stream to find where they exited.

"Damn! Come on Jacob – find them for us!"

But when Jacob got back to them it was to report that he hadn't found any trace of anyone outside the village except the two of them. He told them he would continue to look and would be in touch.

"Where they hell could they be?" Jack muttered, looking around. "How could they just have disappeared?"

The two men searched for what seemed like hours. Jack had contacted Daniel and told him what had happened. "Just look after the woman", he instructed. "We'll check in every hour or sooner if we find them."

"Do you think he had some kind of transport?" Jack asked his companion after he finished talking to Daniel. "Maybe he had a Teltak of his own."

"I do not see how he would have located one here O'Neill", Teal'c told him seriously. "He arrived through the gate so is probably on foot or using a cart like the one we brought."

"Crap – could he have stolen ours?"

"It is possible", Teal'c nodded. "Shall we have Daniel Jackson check and see?"

When Daniel reported back to them a few minutes later it was to tell them that the cart and hamel were still there. All that did was leave the two of them more confused than ever.

They eventually returned to the town, hoping that someone might have an idea where Ra'mash could have gone. As they entered the village the first thing they saw was Daniel running towards them.

"What is it?" Jack asked, a worried frown on his face. "Has something happened?"

"What? Oh –no, no. I just think I may know where he went", Daniel said in a rush.

"Where – and how did you find out?"

"I was talking to some of the locals – okay, and flashing around a few coins – and one of them finally told me that there was an old mine shaft outside of the town. He said he was pretty sure that Ra'mash had gone out there to see it one day."

"If they are in a mine it would be the reason Jacob was unable to detect them", Teal'c informed them.

"Can this guy take us there?"

"For a small fee", Daniel gave a crooked smile "he'd probably sell his mother."

"Well, we don't need his mother, but I'll gladly pay if he'll take us there."

* * *

Sam woke up to find her hands bound to her side, which was always distressing. The second discovery, however, was worse. She was naked from the waist down and her hips were elevated with her legs spread wide. She let out a small sound of fear and immediately tried to bring her legs together. Unfortunately, she was unsuccessful as she realized her ankles were tied to some kind of restraints.

She heard a laugh at that moment and rolled over as much as she was able, to see Ra'mash – she recognized him from when she'd been kidnapped by him and his partner – grinning at her.

"What are you doing?" she asked, trying not to let the fear sound in her voice.

"Now? Nothing. I have just finished." As he spoke he moved towards her legs, causing her to flinch. She didn't know what had just happened, but she feared the worst. Knowing her life could be in danger made her try and focus on the man in front of her. She could fall apart later.

Sam's eyes showed her distress; the rest of her remained calm. "What _did_ you do to me?" she asked softly, menacingly. She prayed she hadn't been sexually assaulted, although it seemed like it was a likely possibility.

He smiled and patted her stomach gently. "I gave you what every woman wants", the stranger asked.

"What - ? What does that _mean_?" She suddenly felt as if she was going to vomit and had to take a number of deep breaths before the feeling passed.

Ra'mash began to undo the restraints on her ankles, talking as he did so. "I have given you a child – a perfect child", he laughed. "You are blessed for I implanted the child and you carry the hoktar for our goddess."

Suddenly the bile role in her throat and Sam had to quickly turn to the side as she lost the contents of her stomach. This couldn't be happening to her – not now. She _couldn't_ bear a child – she wasn't ready – she wasn't even in a relationship for God's sake! And the fact that the child was the Colonel's – she couldn't think about that – not now.

She vomited until there was nothing left in her stomach. She continued with dry heaves for a few more seconds until everything finally passed.

While she'd been busy throwing up, Ra'mash had calmly finished untying her ankles. She immediately curled up, pulling her legs together and her knees up into a protective position. She was distressed at the whimpering sounds that seemed to be coming from her throat and tried to stop them, although they continued to sound no matter what she did.

An arm was placed behind her and she was helped into a sitting position. Ra'mash then held a bottle to her lips. After a tentative sip – confirming it was simply water – she took a little in her mouth, swished it around and then spat it out. She then put her lips back on it and drank deeply, until the alien finally pulled the bottle away.

"Enough. You'll make yourself ill again." Setting the bottle down beside him, he reached out and slowly touched her arm. "Do not try and fight me", he told her softly. "I do not want to hurt you for I must keep you safe until the child arrives."

"Why did you do this?" Sam managed to speak, although she still felt sick and panicked.

"I told you – to produce the perfect Hoktar for my lady."

"Hoktar? But – but it's just a normal human child. It's not a hoktar." She hoped she was speaking the truth and that Nirrti hadn't already done something.

"It shall be", he nodded, as if answering himself. "Once the child is born, Nirrti will be able to transform it and make it perfect. She will particularly love the fact that it is a Tauri child."

"How do you know I'm even – that it even _took_?" Sam wanted to reach down and touch her abdomen, but she was frightened to do so. For some reason she couldn't quite comprehend that this was real. It seemed like something out of a movie – or a nightmare. She _couldn't_ be pregnant – not like this.

"Of course it did", Ra'mash laughed. "I have perfected the technique over many years and I brought my equipment. It is a quick process and it went well. I finished examining you before you returned to consciousness. Everything looks good and in time you will bear a healthy child."

Sam stared at him for a few more minutes and then finally uncurled her legs. "My clothes?" she said, trying to sound calm although she was ready to erupt in hysterics at any moment.

"They are here", Ra'mash picked up the pile of clothes and knelt by Sam. He quickly and efficiently dressed her in her BDU pants. His touch made her want to start vomiting again, but fortunately she held it together. Fortunately his touch was impersonal and, if anything, highly scientific. As soon as he was done, Ra'mash moved away from her. By now she was pretty sure he wasn't interested in her for anything other than the fact that she was a vessel carrying the future hoktar

"We will wait until your friends have left", Ra'mash announced out of the blue, "and then I will return for Saeena and we will all go together through the Chappai."

"Who is Saeena?" Sam asked, although she really wasn't that interested. She simply wanted the Colonel and Teal'c and Daniel to show up and rescue her and then she wanted to figure out what to do about – God, she couldn't even name it in her own brain.

"Saeena is going to be the mother of another hoktar", Ra'mash grinned. "I implanted one of your embryos in her and she too will bear a child for our goddess.

If finding out she had been impregnated had been hard, realizing that another woman was carrying her child was even harder. Hell – what could she do – what would _he _do? At that moment – more than at any other time in her life – she wished the Colonel was here.

"How do you plan to get off this planet", she finally asked. She looked around and only then realized she hadn't even thought about where they were.

Her first thought was that they were in some kind of cave, but the second glance told her it looked more like a kind of tunnel. She frowned and regarded her surroundings more closely.

"We are in an abandoned naquada mine", Ra'mash told her. "You friends do not know about it and without help they will not find the entrance. Just relax my dear. I will not hurt you – not as long as you carry the hoktar." He gave a grin which, to Sam, seemed like pure evil. She scooted back until her body was resting against the side of the mine and waited.

* * *

"It is there", the man with them – Franek – pointed towards a spot about fifty feet ahead of them. He'd agreed to show them the mine entrance, so Jack had followed, with Teal'c while Daniel returned to the house to watch Saeena – and the embryos.

Jack frowned, not seeing anything that looked any different from the surrounding forest. He'd been beginning to wonder if they were being taken on a wild goose chase. Maybe this guy was in the pay of the alien and was leading them away from where he had Sam hid.

He sighed and began to head towards the area the alien had pointed out. He didn't need to say anything to Teal'c who remained quiet and simply followed them.

Once they'd gotten closer Jack saw what he thought Franek was pointing out – what looked like a small wooden frame, which was carefully hidden in behind the thick foliage. He didn't know if it had been hidden intentionally or whether it had simply been time that had acted as the concealer.

The two men – Franek stayed back – moved quietly towards the wooden frame. When Jack, who was first in line, arrived, he carefully pushed back the greenery and suddenly found himself looking at a small doorway. What was very obvious to him – and, he was sure, to Teal'c – was that someone else had been here just recently. He lifted his radio and quickly contacted Jacob and then Daniel to inform them about their location and to tell them of their plans.

After he was finished he put his radio away, turned and made a sign to his teammate and then reached down to unlatch the door.

"They'll find you, you know", Sam said after a few minutes. "My teammates will track you down until they get you and bring you to justice."

Ra'mash shrugged. "My lady will protect me."

"Your _lady_?" Sam wanted to know.

"Nirrti! My goddess. She will protect me from your friends and she will protect _you_ as long as you carry the child."

"Nirrti's dead", Sam told him flatly. She could instantly see his look of denial so she continued. "When was the last time you heard from her?" she asked. "Has she sent anyone to check on you in the last few years? I tell you – she's dead. I was there and she'd no more – kaput", she made a slashing gesture across her throat. "She's not going to save you."

Ra'mash screamed and lifted his arm, ready to strike the one who would utter such blasphemy. He suddenly stopped and stood, as if frozen with vengeance, unable to complete his punishment of the woman. "You lie", he finally muttered. "I would know if she was dead. She _can't_ be. She cannot die!"

"Uh – I'm afraid she can and she has. I was there and saw her die. One of the men she experimented on strangled her."

"No – no, no, no", he whimpered, keeping his hands over his ears. "It cannot be true. You are lying."

"Why would I lie?" Sam asked, sounding surprised. "But the fact is, I'm _not _lying. Nirrti's gone and this whole – hoktar – thing is useless. Haven't you been paying attention over the last few years? The System Lords have practically been wiped out and the Goa'uld are a dying race."

Ra'mash groaned and threw himself down, looking like he wanted to cover his ears with his hands and drum his feet on the ground. He didn't, however, and after a few minutes seemed to have recovered. He pushed himself to his feet and stood staring down at Sam. "I was weak and believed your lies for a few moments. My goddess will punish me for those doubts – but now they are gone and I will serve her by bringing you to her. She will be pleased and will reward me for it."

Sam sighed and leaned back, her eyes closed. She wanted to break down and cry, or to throw things. This had been one helluva bad day!

This time she heard the noise, even though she was half asleep. She blinked and sat up a bit straighter, although carefully so as not to alert the sleeping Ra'mash. Someone was coming – and she hoped with everything in her that it was her boys!

Jack and Teal'c walked carefully through the darkened tunnel towards a faint light they saw in the distance. They walked as quickly but as quietly as they could until they neared the end of the corridor. It was then that Jack made a few more signs, Teal'c nodded, and the two of them casually walked into the widened area where the light originated.

It took Jack only a second to find out that Sam was here, that she seemed safe and that their enemy appeared to be sleeping. That last part quickly changed, however, as Ra'mash opened his eyes and looked up at the face of his enemy.

He let out a yelp and tried to get to his feed in record time. At the same time he grabbed for something beside him and lifted it up and pointed at Jack.

Teal'c acted without thought when it became obvious that Ra'mash planned to go down fighting. He lifted his staff weapon and shot it once, hitting the alien square in the chest.

Ra'mash fell, slowly, to the ground, his mouth open in surprise. Why had Nirrti not protected him? Why had the goddess left him for so long? Why – he looked over at the woman as his vision began to grow dark. She had told the truth. Nirrti was dead. Soon after her servant Ra'mash was also dead.

"Are you okay?" Jack rushed up and quickly undid the binding that kept her arms pinned to her side. When Sam didn't answer he looked at her closely. "Carter? You okay?"

"Uh – no", she answered. As the Colonel worked on the ropes she couldn't help but lean forward and rest her head on his chest. If she'd been in her right mind she never would have done this – but why not enjoy it while she could.

Surprised, Jack did the only thing he could thing of – he put his arms around her and simply hugged her to him, her tremors worrying him greatly. "Carter? Sam? Come on – what's wrong? What did that bastard do?"

For a while she didn't speak – only allowing herself to begin to feel safe again. Finally however she pulled back allowing the Colonel to finish untying her. "He – he took me to – he implanted one of the embryos.

Jack's hands stilled and the rest of him froze. He tried to swallow but was having a terrible time doing anything – even breathing. He also didn't seem to be able to finish untying Carter since his fingers had officially all become thumbs. "What?" he finally managed to grind out.

"I'm pregnant – with – our child."


	15. Decisions

_**Thanks so much for the lovely reviews! For those of you who were wondering about Sam's denial of a relationship - this chapter should explain.**_

_**Keep those reviews coming - please and thank you.**_

Jack simply closed his eyes, overwhelmed by everything that had happened. He'd heard what Carter – Sam – had said, but he wasn't sure if he could take it all in. The bastard had gone and done it and now – now he didn't know what to do.

"O'Neill?" Teal'c's voice finally penetrated the haze which surrounded him. He leaned back slightly, Carter still clutched in his arms.

"Yeah?"

"I have the container which held the embryos", Teal'c informed him gently.

"Yeah?" he repeated. "Uh – and?"

"They are gone."

"But – there should be one still there", Jack answered, feeling confused. He heard a small sob from Carter and then she stepped away from him, causing his arms to drop by his side. Why he suddenly felt bereft he couldn't have said.

"What is he talking about Sir?" Sam looked between the two men, feeling shaky and confused by all that had happened.

"The embryos Carter", O'Neill said, looking at her with concern written clearly on his face. "Uh – Ra'mash grabbed two of them when he fled – at least that's what we think. According to Teal'c the second one is gone too."

"Gone – but where? He only spoke of one child -", her voice faded. "And the others?" Her eyes grew frantic. "There were six altogether – that's what they told us."

Jack simply nodded, not sure what to say. Fortunately Teal'c was more clear-headed than either of them at that moment and it was he who spoke up.

"We believe there _were_ six Major Carter. Ra'mash discovered that we had arrived and he fled, taking only two of the containers with him. I believe he felt he could travel more easily that way."

"So, the other four are safe?" she asked, looking back and forth between her two teammates.

Jack grimaced and rubbed his hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up wildly. If things had been different she would have laughed, but right now things were too serious for any amusement to make its way in. "Well – he", he nodded towards the body of the alien, "actually found a – uh – surrogate and he", he made an indeterminate gesture with his hand.

Sam frowned – not sure what he was saying. She looked again at Teal'c. "What?"

"He found a surrogate and implanted one of the embryos", Teal'c said plainly.

Jack reached out and quickly put his arms back around Carter when it looked as if she was about to faint. After staring at him dazedly for a few seconds she seemed to get the strength back in her legs and straightened. "So you mean – someone – is _pregnant_ with my – our – with -?"

"Yeah", Jack answered quietly.

"What are we going to do?" she asked him, her voice sounding as if she were once again about to cry.

"I don't – know Carter. We'll think of something."

She laughed bitterly. "Right. _Something_!"

"Look I – I - we'd better get you back and checked over. Are you – Sam, are you okay?"

"No", she answered shortly, almost angrily. For some reason she wanted to lash out at the Colonel, but, when she looked more closely at him she realized she was being horribly unfair. This wasn't his fault and he was just as much a victim as she was. She sighed. "I'm – okay physically – at least I think I am. Otherwise", she shrugged.

"Yeah", he nodded, knowing what she meant. "Let's call Jacob and have him pick us up so we can get this sorted out first – then we can worry about the other."

"Wait. Is it the container that's missing, or just the embryo?" Sam asked, realizing Teal'c hadn't made it clear.

"The containers are here", he answered, holding them up. "But they are empty."

"Oh God", she sighed. "You don't think-?" she put her hand on her abdomen. "But he only referred to one child."

Jack walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Sam – listen, we _will_ get this thing figured out. Right now we just have to get off this planet and get back to Earth. We'll get you checked out, okay. Just – try not to think about it too much for now."

She swallowed and then nodded. He was right – there was really nothing they could do now anyway and there was no point speculating. She took a deep breath, straightened herself and nodded again, this time with determination. "Yes Sir", she said.

As they headed towards the entrance of the mine shaft, Jack thought about what they should do next. They'd buried Ra'mash in a shallow grave in the mine shaft. There was really nothing else to do – and no one to contact. One day someone may find his bones and wonder what had happened to him – but that was to be his only legacy. They left him without a backward glance – relieved to be done with hime.

Daniel however, was still back in the town with the woman – Saeena – and they would have to collect him. What to do with her was the question. There was no way he was leaving a child of his here on this planet – not in the conditions that existed here.

Jack thought about the young woman and remembered what she'd said about being ruined – that her family wouldn't accept her with a child. He closed his eyes briefly. Would she want to abort? The thought brought real pain with it. That was his _child_ – even if it had been created in a less than conventional way. Could he handle the thought of its destruction? But then, could he insist that she bore someone else's child, especially if it brought her ruin?

He could feel his shoulders become more and more tense as they walked and he hadn't even let himself _think_ about Carter and the fact that she too - . _Damn it all to hell_, he wanted to shout. What did he do to deserve this? What did _she_ do to deserve this!

"I believe we can contact Jacob Carter now, O'Neill." Teal'c was standing looking at him in concern. It was only then that Jack realized they were outside – and probably had been for quite some time. Even Carter was looking at him with worry in her eyes.

"Sorry – just thinking", he grimaced. He lifted the communicator, but then dropped his hand almost immediately. "What are we going to say to him?"

"Nothing", Carter said sharply. It took only a few seconds for her expression to change with the realization that they had to tell Jacob something – even if not everything. "I'd rather not tell him about my – implantation", she said softly. "Can we just tell him about Saeena and that Ra'mash is dead?"

"He'll -" Jack abruptly bit his lip. He had been about to say that Jacob would find out eventually, but then realized that Carter might decide to not keep the child – probably wouldn't in fact. If the idea of the alien woman terminating the pregnancy bothered him – he refused to even acknowledge the pain that the thought of Sam doing so had given him.

"He'll what Sir?" Sam was looking at him with a strange expression on her face.

"Nothing Carter. Okay – we'll tell him that the bastard is dead. We can tell him about the woman – and that we've retrieved the embryos. Anything else we'll keep to ourselves for now."

Both Teal'c and Sam nodded and then Jack once again lifted his arm and spoke into the communications device. Ten minutes later Jacob had ringed them up to the ship.

"Can you send me down close to the town?" Jack asked after they'd given the Tokra the expurgated edition of their adventures. "I'll go talk to Daniel and Sa – whatever her name is."

"Saeena, O'Neill."

Jack nodded at his friend and turned back to Jacob. "We also need to do something with the cart. I don't want to leave the poor animal there and the owner will need it back."

"I'll ring you down right beside it Jack", Jacob said, fiddling with his controls. "Why don't you pay someone to take it back? They'll probably appreciate the money."

"Yeah, okay." He looked over at Sam in concern. Her father hadn't seemed to notice, but he could tell she was almost sick with worry and fear. He so wanted to be able to help her, but knew that this situation was beyond him. With a nod to her father he walked to the ring room and was soon back on the planet.

"You doin' okay girl?" he patted the ugly but somehow endearing animal on its rump. "Someone will be back to take you home", he told her. With a final look at their ride, he headed into the village. Once there he arranged with someone to take the animal back to its owner. He just hoped that the person would do it and not decide to keep it.

"Daniel?" he called, when he arrived at the administrator's house a few minutes later. He heard a faint response and walked down the hallway. Instead of going back into the 'lab', he found them in another room across the hall which looked as if it had been used as a bedroom/sitting room. Daniel was on the only sofa, seated beside Saeena.

"You two okay?" he asked as he entered the room.

"We're fine. How is Sam?"

Jack had radioed Daniel to give him an update and to tell him that they'd found Carter and that Ra'mash was dead. He hadn't given the archaeologist any details however, deciding to wait until he could see him in person.

"She's – upset", he told his friend. "But hanging in there. You know Carter."

"Yeah", Daniel nodded, thinking about the woman that was as close as a sister to him. "He didn't – hurt – her did he?"

"No – no. At least – she claimed not, although I think that forcefully impregnating someone could be classed as hurting them", he said bitterly.

"Yeah", Daniel nodded his agreement. "I just – didn't want to think of him – doing anything else."

"No – he didn't. I kind of think he and the other guy had a – thing – going."

Daniel frowned. "What?"

"Oh for God's sake Daniel – the alien dude was gay!"

"Really? How do you know that?"

Jack sighed, wondering how in the world they'd even gotten into this discussion. "Doesn't matter", he muttered. "Right now we have to figure out what to do with -" he nodded at Saeena.

The young woman instantly looked terrified and edged closer to Daniel, who put his arm around her. "Don't worry. Jack won't hurt you. _None_ of us will hurt you." He looked up at the Colonel and frowned. "I think – Saeena tells me that she won't be accepted here in her village if they find out she's uh –"

"Pregnant?" Jack asked plainly.

"Yeah. So I think we should consider -"

"Does she want to get rid of it?" Jack interupted, deciding to be blunt and get this over with.

"Get rid of it?" Saeena looked at him in confusion. After a second her expression changed and she looked horrified. "You mean – the _baby_?"

"Uh – yeah", Jack nodded, his heart beating a mile a minute.

"_Never_!" she cried. "That is – I could – it is a sin."

"I think they have pretty conservative views here Jack", Daniel tried to warn him. "They don't – it's probably much like 19th century Earth. I doubt they allow that kind of thing here."

"Okay", Jack nodded, refusing to show his relief, even though it left a whole different problem. "Okay then – what are we going to do?"

"Well", Daniel looked at him carefully. "I was speaking to Saeena, while we waited for you and I think the best thing would be for her to come with us."

"Come – you mean back to Earth?"

"Yes. Jack – just wait!" Daniel stood and took a step towards the older man, who had started to object. "We don't actually have to take her to Earth. We could take her to one of our allies – but we'd make sure she was looked after carefully."

"And then what?" Jack looked between his friend and the young woman who was still saying very little.

"Uh", Daniel looked down at her. "Saeena says that she can tell her family she is coming with us as our servant. After a few months – once the baby is born – she can come back. We'll give her enough money to set her and her family up for years. She says that should make them happy enough not to question her."

"And the baby?" Jack asked softly.

"Well -" Daniel started to answer when Saeena interrupted him.

"It is not my child", she cried. "I did not want to have a child – not like this", she cried. "I will not hurt it – I could not – but I do not want it. I have – my betrothed would not understand."

"Jack, once she has the baby – she'll come back and you and Sam can – decide – what to do. There are lots of good people who would adopt it, if that's what you want or -" Daniel stopped talking, unsure of how Jack was taking all this. All he knew was that his friend was looking strange – not like he'd ever quite seen him before.

Jack nodded – that's all he could manage right now. Part of him felt incredibly relieved – but part of him continued to wonder what the hell to do about this whole situation. Finally he let out a deep breath.

"So – does she need to tell her family she's coming with us?"

"Yes, but I think – if she's up to it – it would be better coming from Sam. She could claim she needs a maid servant. It would look better than Saeena going off with a man."

"She already _went_ with a man", Jack scoffed, reminding his friend about Ra'mash.

"He was Metran", Saeena announced suddenly.

"Metran?" It was a word Daniel didn't know and he looked at the woman with a puzzled frown.

"Yes", she frowned as well. "You know – Metran."

"Uh – I'm afraid I don't. What does it mean?"

She looked embarrassed at that and bent her head. "He preferred – men", she whispered.

"Ha!" Jack exclaimed. "See, I told ya – gay!"

"So your family knew this", Daniel asked her, intentionally ignoring Jack.

"Yes. It was the only reason they let me go with him."

"But – is that – allowed here?" Daniel couldn't quite see how a society that condemned abortion and unwed pregnancy would allow same-sex relationships. It certainly didn't sound like Earth.

Saeena's brow furrowed in confusion. "Allowed? It is not something one allows", she explained. "It just is."

"Oh." Now it was Daniel's turn to be embarrassed. "Well – I guess – so", he turned to Jack. "What do you think?"

Jack took another deep breath and let it out. "Let's contact Sam and explain things. If she agrees she can come and speak to Saeena's family."

In the end – to no one's surprise – Carter came back to the planet and told the girl's parents and boyfriend that she needed a maid servant and would they allow her to take their young relative? There was some argument – mostly from the boyfriend – but when Sam pulled out a bag of coins – with a promise for more at the end of Saeena's service, the objections slowed down.

To give him credit, the boyfriend continued to object. It was Saeena who pointed out that they could start their lives together much more easily with money. "It will only be for a short while", she soothed him. Eventually he too agreed.

Finally, with many teary goodbye's, Saeena followed Jack and Daniel and Carter towards the woods. Once out of sight of the village Jacob ringed them up to the Teltak. Soon they were on their way back to Earth.

"What are you going to do with her?" Jacob looked at the man seated beside him in the co-pilot chair. "Can you take her to Earth?"

Jack blew out a puff of air. "Probably not. Oh, we'll take her to the SGC – but I doubt Hammond will let her leave. We'll put in a call to some of our allies and see if she can stay for a while."

"Until she has the baby?" Jacob prodded.

"Yeah."

"And what then?'

"I don't know", Jack said, the irritation thick in his voice. "I just don't know."

"It's your child."

"For God's sake! I _know_ that Jacob. Do you think I'd forget a thing like that?"

"Did you retrieve all the embryos?"

"Uh – yeah", Jack answered, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

"You don't sound so sure."

Crap – why had he sat here, Jack wondered. Jacob could be as bad as a – a very irritating mosquito which wouldn't let you alone and kept buzzing by your ear. "We're pretty sure", he finally answered. "I – it's just – we were told there were six."

"You think there might be more?" the older man asked, surprised.

"NO – I mean – maybe, but we don't' think so. Uh, I think I've got to -" Jack stood and pointed towards the door to the Teltak's bathroom.

"You _think_?" Jacob grinned, but didn't' say any more as the Colonel walked away. "What the hell's the matter with you O'Neill", he sighed softly. With a shake of his head he continued to fly the ship.

"You okay Sam?" Daniel had come over to see his friend, leaving Saeena sleeping on a mat on the floor. The young woman was exhausted with all the turmoil of the day. Besides that, he really hadn't had a chance to talk to Sam.

"I'm okay", she answered with a small smile.

"Right", Daniel scoffed. After a short pause he continued. "Now – how are you _really_?"

Sam sighed and rubbed her cheek. "Confused – scared – angry – _terrified_."

Daniel reached out and gently put his hand on her leg. "It'll be okay", he said.

"Really? And how do you know? People keep saying that, but _how_? How can it possibly be okay? I'm pregnant with my commander's child – and another woman is carrying our child. I'm not even in a serious relationship. I don't know what to _do_!"

"What about Pete?" Daniel asked quietly.

She froze for a second and then blinked rapidly feeling suddenly sick. "I – I know – but -"

"But what Sam? I mean, you're _engaged_. That's sounds like a pretty serious relationship to me."

"No – I mean – it is, of _course_ it is but it's just that – when this happened I wasn't thinking about – he's not – oh God Daniel – I, I wasn't even thinking about him. How could I not think about him? How could I forget him? I _love_ him?"

"Do you?" Daniel spoke softly, gently. "Do you really love him?" He was careful not to sound judgmental or even that he doubted her but he had wondered for a long time about Pete and whether Sam was with him because he was truly right for her or because – she couldn't be with the person she really wanted to be with.

"Of course I do! I wouldn't have agreed to marry him if I didn't love him. It's just – with everything going on I just -"

"Didn't think about him?"

"Yeah – it doesn't mean -"

"Sam – look, I'm not trying to tell you what to do or how to feel but – it just seems to me that with everything going on that's _exactly_ the time you should be thinking about the person you love."

She was silent at that, and he could see the varied feelings move across her face. He saw anger – at him for pushing her – sadness, for what he wasn't sure – and finally guilt. He was pretty sure that was because she was beginning to admit to herself the truth – that maybe she didn't love Pete as much as she thought she did.

"He's a good man", she said finally.

"Mmm hmm – I'm sure he is."

"He loves me."

"I'm sure he does."

"And – and he can give me a good life."

"Can he?"

"Of course he can Daniel", she replied, angrily. "I told you – he loves me. We're going to get married and have a good life together."

"What about the baby?"

"He'll – he'll be a good father. I'll explain it to him and I know he'll understand. He'll love it just like it was his."

"And what about Jack?" he asked softly. "How do you think he'll feel knowing another man is raising his child?"

"He'll – he'll probably be glad."

"Oh come on Sam – you're not that stupid!" Daniel was starting to feel angry at the woman seated next to him. "He's already lost one child – do you really think he'll want to lose another one?"

"He won't lose it", she answered angrily. "He can – visit." She stopped and closed her eyes, suddenly hearing herself – and how absolutely pathetic and – cruel – she sounded. She knew the Colonel, knew how he loved children. He'd never be satisfied with _visits_. "Maybe – maybe we can have joint custody or something."

Daniel took a deep breath, suddenly feeling guilty for having pushed Sam about this whole thing. All he could think about was how hurt both his friends could end up. He also admitted that he hated the thought of Shanahan raising Jack's child. He couldn't imagine how Jack must feel. "Look Sam – I'm sorry – it's not really any of my business. You and Jack will have to work this out together. I just want you to – to be honest with yourself. If you really love Pete then I'm sure it will be fine. Just make sure you really _do_ love him. Don't marry him just because you want some kind of cookie cutter life. This – _changes_ things. Think about what you're doing, okay?"

She sat for a moment, pondering what Daniel was saying. She was so confused she didn't know what to do or what to think. But she nodded and gave him a small smile. "I will", she promised.

Jack had been watching the two of them for a while, wondering what they were discussing. They both looked so serious and yet were speaking so softly that he couldn't hear. At one point he'd thought he'd heard the name Pete – and had instantly felt a solid core of – something – in his gut. He refused to name it and instead turned and headed towards Teal'c. He slowly lowered himself next to his friend.

"O'Neill", Teal'c nodded to him. "Are you well?"

"Yeah – I guess."

"This has been difficult for you."

"You can say that again", the Colonel agreed, letting his head drop back to rest against the wall.

"This has been -"

"Teal'c!" Jack half laughed. "You know I don't buy that anymore, don't you?"

"I do, however it seemed appropriate."

"Trying to cheer me up?"

"Indeed."

"Thanks buddy – I'm afraid it'll take more than that."

"Have you spoken with Major Carter?"

"About the – "

"About your children?"

Jack sighed and closed his eyes. "Not really. I didn't think it was a good time with Jacob and everyone here."

Teal'c nodded his understanding and the two men sat quietly for the next few minutes. "Samantha is engaged to be married to Pete Shanahan", Teal'c said finally.

"I know."

"You must do something to stop it."

"What?" Jack lifted his head and looked at the Jaffa. "_Stop_ it? You mean the – wedding?"

"I do."

"But – she wants to marry him. How can I stop her from being happy with him?"

"I do not believe she wants to marry him", Teal'c informed him. "And she is bearing your child, not his."

"God – don't remind me!"

"You do not want this child?" Teal'c almost sounded surprised.

"What? I mean – no – of course I don't -" Jack stopped speaking, a frown suddenly appearing on his forehead. Of course he didn't want a child – did he? He hadn't planned to have more children – hell, he had no plans to ever get married – since the only woman he wanted didn't want him. But now – the choice had been taken out of his hands and he was going to have a child, even though he still couldn't have the woman he loved.

"You know that if she marries Pete Shanahan he will act as father to your child."

Jack's jaw clenched. He hadn't thought of that – in fact, he hadn't really allowed himself to think of any of the consequences of this reality. All the while they'd been searching he'd convinced himself they'd find the embryos before there was the possibility of an actual child. What he – they were going to do then was something else he hadn't thought about – but now – crap! "No way in hell!" he ground out. "That's _my_ child and I'll be damned if some other man is going to raise it."

"You may have no choice O'Neill – not if she chooses Shanahan."

"God!" What could he do? What _should_ he do? The thought of the cop just about killed him. He'd had to stop thinking about the two of them together when he'd found out about Pete as that had been more pain than he'd been able to stand. Still, he'd known she was happy – he'd tried to convince himself that was enough. But now – a child – _his_ child? No way. No way in _hell_.

It was a few hours later and Jack was once again sitting beside Jacob. Teal'c had spelled the Tokra and former general off for a while so that he could sleep, but now he was back to piloting the Teltak.

"So – what do you want to do with Saeena?" Jacob glanced sideways at him. "Take her with you to the SGC?"

"I guess so", Jack nodded. "She should be checked out to make sure she's healthy."

"And then?"

"I don't know. Hammond may let her stay until -", he shrugged.

"She could stay with you", Jacob suggested.

"With me?" Jack stared at the former general. "That's – just -"

"Just what? She's having your baby Jack. You can be there for the pregnancy."

Although that thought was somehow reassuring, the idea of having her around for months was – disturbing. He didn't know quite why that was, although it may have been because she was young enough to be his daughter and the fact that she was carrying his child made him feel like he'd done something – perverted. He groaned softly. It wasn't his fault. He had done nothing.

"You could keep the child", Jacob suggested softly.

"Keep it?" Jack was staring out at the stars, the idea hitting him like a punch in the gut.

"Why not? It is yours and since you don't know who the mother is -" Jacob glanced at him again, "you don't, do you?"

"Huh?" Jack lipped his suddenly dry lips and decided to ignore the question. "How could I look after a baby?"

"It's called a Nanny Jack – or daycare. Parents do it all the time nowadays. Hell, there are a lot of single parents that manage just fine. You could do it."

Yeah – except for the fact that he _did_ know who the mother was – and he didn't think she'd like the idea of him being the only one to raise the child. But then, she was having a baby as well. Hell, maybe they could divide up the kids like that old Disney movie – one for him, one for her.

That thought made him suddenly feel like throwing up or crying – he wasn't sure which was less manly. All he knew was they had a helluva situation, and no good way to solve it. Damn Ra'mash, damn Nirrti, damn normal, decent cops who were in love with the woman he – and damn his stupid, bloody life.

"We're almost there Jack", Jacob suddenly interrupted his thoughts – thank god. "I'll ring you down to the surface by the Stargate and you can gate home." When Jack looked at him in confusion he sighed. "We're on Queretl – it's a deserted planet with a Stargate. It'll get you home without me having to sneak the Teltak into Earth's atmosphere."

"You're not gonna come?"

"No, I have to get back. I've already spent more time than I could afford on this."

"Oh – I see. Look – I - thanks Jacob", Jack gave a crooked grin to the other man. "I appreciate it."

"Damn right!" Jacob grinned. "You owe me one."

"Anytime Jacob – anytime – except remember I owe _you_ the favor, not the Tokra."

As they stood waiting for Daniel to dial the gate Jack said a quick prayer. He didn't know what was going to happen next – but he knew it was going to be life-altering.

And he didn't know if he was quite ready for a whole new life yet again.


	16. Home - Janet

It was a quiet group that exited through the Stargate. Teal'c came through the event horizon first, followed by Carter, with Daniel and a young woman close behind. There was a brief pause and Colonel O'Neill walked out – looking his usual insouciant self – although to someone who knew him well, the tension around his eyes was obvious.

George Hammond stood at the base of the gate, watching as each one of his people moved down the ramp. Jacob had sent a message, telling the SGC that Sg-1 – plus a visitor – would be arriving soon. The message had indicated all were fine, other than that he'd been told nothing.

He couldn't help the relief he felt – he always felt –when one of his teams came home safely. He'd never admit it to a soul, but that relief was especially fierce when the team was Sg-1. Like a parent, he refused to have favorites – or at least to let on that he did. He couldn't help but feel close to this team, both as a group and as individual members. They had been the first team to go through the gate – hell, Jackson and O'Neill had been the first _people_ to go through. Since then they'd been through hell together, figuratively and literally. They had also saved the planet's collective butt on many occasions.

Depending on the outcome of this particular mission – and he admitted to himself that he was dying of curiosity – they could be facing another journey to that hot and miserable place. He sighed as Teal'c reached him, following quickly by the rest of the travelers.

"How did things go people?" he asked, looking at O'Neill.

The other man gave a lopsided grin, which definitely didn't reach past his mouth, and shrugged. "All back safely Sir – the rest – well, I'd like to wait to until the briefing, if that's okay?"

Hammond regarded him closely for a second and then nodded. He couldn't blame the Colonel for wanting to keep things quiet. This was a sensitive issue and needed careful handling. "I see you've got a guest?" he asked, giving tacit agreement to holding off.

"Yes Sir", O'Neill answered, sounding his usual jaunty self. That it was a false jauntiness was obvious to anyone who knew the man. "This is Saeena. Saeena – George." He made a gesture between the two.

Saeena moved closer to Daniel as if seeking safety from him. She stared at Hammond with a look of fear and of wonder. She was still dealing with the trip through the strange water – and the arrival in some strange kind of cave.

Hammond sighed and gave his officer 'The Look'. "Colonel! Saeena – welcome to the SGC. Don't worry, everything is going to be fine. Uh – Dr. Jackson?" He turned to look at their resident archaeologist, his brow lifted in a question.

"Uh – yes Sir. This is – uh – you know that. Saeena is – well, she was – uh – can we wait until the briefing for this too Sir?"

Hammond frowned, wondering what the hell was going on. He didn't like letting strangers – aliens – into his base without having some information. He had no idea who she -"

"She's safe Sir", O'Neill told him, as if reading his thoughts. "She needs to get checked out by Frasier, but she poses no threat."

The general again regarded his officer and finally nodded. If Jack said she was okay, he knew he could feel confident. If anything, O'Neill was more cautious then he was when it came to alien beings.

"Okay then", he said decisively, wanting to get this show on the road. "Get yourselves down to the Infirmary and get checked out. We'll meet in one hour for a briefing and you can all tell me what's going on then."

Jack rubbed his nose and grimaced slightly. "Uh – could we make that two hours Sir? I think – uh – Saeena and Carter might need a bit more time."

Okay – what the _hell_ was going on? George closed his eyes briefly, wondering how it was that his blood pressure wasn't heading for the surface. "Fine", he snapped out. "Two hours." He turned to O'Neill. "I'd like to see you before then Colonel."

Jack sighed. He'd been expecting this. "Yes Sir. I'll be there."

They made their way down the long corridor to the Infirmary, the silence still heavy. Saeena continued to stick to Daniel like the proverbial leech. She jumped in fear at any sound or presence – looking terrified as she passed some of the SF's. Daniel put his hand on her arm to try and comfort her, although he gave Jack a pained look.

Oh yeah, O'Neill thought, this was going to be fun.

"Doc", Jack said, sounding calm as he walked into the Infirmary.

"Colonel", she acknowledged. "Everyone okay?"

"Yeah – well – no injuries", he qualified.

She frowned at that, picking up on something in the Colonel's voice, but left unsaid. "No injuries. But something else?"

Jack glanced over at Carter, waiting for her to say something. He saw her lift her face and glance at him but then she looked down again. He sighed and faced the doctor. "I think Carter wants to see you by herself", he finally said. He scratched his forehead and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Daniel?"

"Yeah – Janet, this is Saeena. She'll need to be checked out and she'll need an ultrasound."

Janet's head whipped around, looking between Daniel and Jack. "An ultrasound?"

"Yeah. She might be – pregnant."

Since no one said anything after that Janet simply nodded. She wasn't sure what was going on, but knowing the reason that Sg-1 had been gone she was worried about what this all meant. She got one of her best nurses to come and take Saeena to a separate room. The young woman looked frightened, but Daniel assured her that everything would be fine. With a final look at him she followed Lieutenant Shaw.

"Okay, Kelly here will check you gentlemen out. That's okay Colonel?" She eyed the man carefully, wanting to make sure there wasn't something she was missing.

"Fine Doc. We're all okay."

She nodded. "Okay Sam – let's go into the ISO room." With a final glance at the Colonel – who was looking in concern at Sam, she followed the Major, worried about what she was going to find.

As Jack watched Carter leave with the doctor he suddenly realized that not once had she spoken to Saeena. He sighed again. Talk about FUBAR!

"Okay Sam", Janet watched as her friend hopped up on the exam table. "Tell me what's going on."

Sam wished she was anywhere else but here right now. She wanted to put this all behind her, to ignore it, to pretend it hadn't happened. She wanted to go back to her house, have Pete come and put his arms around her and tell her he loved her and that they were going to have the perfect life together. She wanted to _not_ think about surrogates and pregnancy and babies and Colonels – okay _one_ Colonel. She wanted to not think about anything – unfortunately, she had no choice.

"He kidnapped me."

"What?" Janet frowned at her and slowly put down the clipboard she was carrying. "_Who_ kidnapped you – and how – and _why_?"

"Ra'mash, the guy who stole the embryos – by sneaking up behind me and knocking me out – to impregnate me with one of the embryos."

Janet reacted in stunned silence, attempting to make sense of all Sam was saying. Finally – _"impregnate?_"

"Yeah."

"And – did he?"

"Yes – at least, I think so." This time her voice was so low Janet could barely hear it – although she _did_ in fact hear it and wanted to swear.

"Where the hell was the Colonel – and Teal'c and Daniel?"

"They were trying to find him. They left me to watch for him." She grimaced. "I didn't do a very good job of it."

"They left you by yourself?" Janet cried indignantly.

"Janet, I'm an experienced officer. I do things like this all the time. Teal'c and I were both watching while Daniel and the Colonel went into town to see if they could locate him. It was just bad luck that he found me."

"And – Sam, are you sure he -" she motioned to Sam's stomach.

"Pretty sure – at least he told me he had, although I was asleep or unconscious at the time so I don't remember. We do know that the embryos he had were gone when the guys found me."

"Oh my God." Janet knew it wasn't exactly a professional response, but she couldn't help herself. This was – really bad. "What – what are you going to do?"

"I don't _know_ Janet!" Sam suddenly crumpled before her friends eyes. She began to shake and the tears rushed down her cheeks.

Janet rushed forward and put her arms around her friend and held her as she cried, whispering _what_ she couldn't have said afterward, although they were many of the same words she used when Cassie cried or was upset. It took a while but finally Sam began to calm down.

"Sorry about that", she hiccupped, pulling gently away from her friend and sitting up straight. "I don't know where that came from."

"Oh, I think I can figure it out. Come on Sam – you've gone through a hellish time – you deserve a good cry. It's just a good thing you waited until you were with me. It would have terrified the guys."

Sam let out a rather watery giggle at that. "It would have, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, I can just see that panicked look that the Colonel gets on his face when he's faced with something he doesn't know how to handle. Daniel would stumble around, trying to make it better but not really having a clue how, and Teal'c would stand ponderously by, uttering a very wise sounding saying – that actually meant he didn't have a clue how to handle a weeping woman either!"

Sam chuckled even more at that and ended up having to wipe her eyes as much from laughter as from tears.

"So, not that you've got some of that out – let's see how you're doing. We'd better do an ultra – wait!" Janet stepped back and looked at Sam with a startled expression. "The Colonel said that that alien woman needed an ultrasound – that she might be pregnant. What -?"

"Ra'mash implanted an embryo in her as well", Sam answered somberly.

"Oh my God!" Janet said for the second time. "What are you going to do?"

"I have no idea."

Janet sighed and shook her head. "We'll figure something out", she finally said, although both of them knew they were just words.

"Well, you seem healthy", Janet said after a few minutes of examining the Major. "I'll just have them bring the portable ultrasound machine in here and we'll take a look." She reached out and put her hand on Sam's arm. "It really _will_ be okay Sam", she told her. "We're all here for you."

It was at that moment that Sam thought about the Colonel. If she _was_ pregnant, she had no doubt that everyone would rally around her to support her. She knew that even her father would be supportive, once he'd had a chance to freak out. But who would support Jack? He had to be worried sick about this whole thing and yet feeling like he had no control over anything. At least she could decide whether or not to have the baby – at least the one she was carrying.

"Janet", she suddenly said, just as the ultrasound machine was wheeled in by one of the orderlies."

"Yes honey?" Janet told the man he could leave and began to set up the machine.

"Can you – ask Colonel O'Neill if he wants to see this?"

Janet looked up in surprise – no, it was more like shock. "Sam? Are you sure?"

"Yes – no – I don't know. Look, it's his child too and he might want to see it. I think he feels – very alone right now."

Janet walked over to the bed and again touched her friend. "Sam, I haven't asked – do you want to keep this baby? Everyone will understand if you don't. And you know, if you decide – not to – it might be better if the Colonel doesn't see the ultrasound."

Sam stared for a moment and could once again feel her eyes fill up with tears. "I – yes, I want to keep it."

"You're sure? I mean, you don't have to decide right now, but you _will_ need to make the decision before too long. The – fetus – is already six weeks old – at least according to when it had to have been – uh"

"Created?"

"I guess that's the word", Janet nodded. This was so totally out of her range of experience she wasn't quite sure what to say or do.

"Yes."

"What?" Janet looked at her in confusion, having lost track of the conversation.

"Yes I want to keep it. Look Janet, you were the one that told me I might have difficulty getting pregnant at all. This might be my only chance and – I can't – it's my _child_!"

"Okay Sam – if that's what you want I'm with you one hundred percent. So", she sighed again, "you still want me to talk to the Colonel?"

Sam nodded, not sure if she could speak. As Janet left to go talk with him, she wondered if she was crazy. Did she want him here or not? Part of her thought it was the right thing to do – and part of her _wanted_ him here – wanted him to share this moment with her. But another part of her wanted to keep this from him. This was _her_ child – hers alone – and she didn't want to even think about the fact that she was carrying his child and might have to share it with him.

It was only a couple of minutes later – a couple of minutes during which Sam continued to agonize – when Janet returned. At first Sam thought she was alone, and felt a stab of disappointment along with a huge feeling of relief, but a couple of seconds later the Colonel followed her in.

"Carter?" he said, looking at her carefully. "Doc said you wanted – that you said I could – be here? Are you sure?"

He looked so adorably confused, so sad and so concerned at that moment that she decided she was glad she had told Janet to get him. "Yes, if you are", she said softly. "You don't have to if you'd rather not – I'll understand. I just thought -" her voice conveyed her fear – along with a little bit of hope.

Jack's smile – the one he reserved for _very_ special occasions, suddenly blossomed on his face. At that moment she was _really_ glad she'd asked him to be with her.

"Thanks", was all he said, although she could hear the deep gratitude – and wonder – in his voice.

"Okay, let's get this set up Sam." Janet had her lie back and placed a sheet over her legs up to her waist. With a quick glance at the Colonel she lifted the Major's shirt, tucking it carefully under her breasts. Sam moved a bit, feeling uncomfortable from all the water Janet had made her drink in preparation.

"Who decided that making a pregnant woman drink all that water was a good idea?" she groused – more to fill the silence than anything.

"It's so we can see things Sam", Janet said, sounding distracted. She was doing a few last minute adjustments with the machine. "There! I'm going to put some jelly on your stomach now – don't worry, I've warmed it up but it will feel a bit strange."

Sam noticed that the Colonel kept his eyes on the ultrasound machine rather than on her. She figured he was feeling a little embarrassed by being here – especially with her shirt pulled up and her pants pulled down – even though she was covered by the sheet. She found it rather sweet – although truth to tell, she was feeling rather embarrassed herself.

"Okay, here we go." Janet squirted the warmed gel on her stomach and then began rolling the wand over her. Sam wanted to squirm when it pressed down on her rather full bladder. She just prayed she didn't end up springing a leak!

"What you laughing about Carter?" Jack looked at her in surprise when she let out a soft giggle. She knew it was nerves, but couldn't help herself.

"Nothing Sir", she said, "I'm just a little nervous."

"No reason to be Sam", Janet said with a smile. "Everything looks gre – whoa!" She was squinting at the screen. "Uh – did you say that that Ram- guy – implanted a single embryo?"

Her question was met by dead silence. Janet looked up in surprise, to see strange expressions on both Jack and Sam. "What?" she asked, her brow crinkled.

"Are there two?" Jack said softly.

"You knew?" Janet answered with a question.

"We – figured."

"Yes, then I do see two fetuses here." Janet looked again at the screen. "Do you want to see?"

Sam nodded, unable to speak. She didn't know how to react to the fact that there wasn't just one but _two_ babies. "He – he only talked about one", she murmured.

Since, at that moment Janet turned the monitor Sam stopped thinking about Ra'mash and instead focused on the – "Oh my – are those -?"

"Yes, those are the babies." Janet pointed out two tiny shadows on the screen. "I can try and see if I can hear their heartbeats, although it's probably too early. We can probably _see_ them – but it's usually around eight or ten weeks before you can hear anything."

Sam was staring, mesmerized, at the screen. It took her a few seconds before she realized she had heard nothing from the Colonel. While Janet was fiddling again with the wand and the machine, she looked up at the man standing at her side.

She blinked, sure she hadn't seen him correctly. He was staring at the screen as if – as if – god, were those _tears_ in his eyes? At that moment he glanced down at her, catching her eyes for a brief moment before looking away again. It was then that she saw that not only _were_ they tears, but he had flushed red when he'd seen her looking at him. He was clearly embarrassed to be caught showing such emotion.

At that precise moment her heart did something strange. She was sure it actually stopped and then started again, although Janet certainly didn't seem to catch anything going on. Right after the strange flutter, she could feel her entire body grow warm – not like a fever warm – but warm like – like something wonderful had just happened. Damn it – it had to take more than the Colonel _crying_ over seeing his babies to make her go all – tingly. Still, her heart _had_ done something strange.

"So – there, if you look closely, you can see the hearts. No sound yet – but we can do another ultrasound a little later – or you should be able to hear them at your next appointment with the Doppler."

Janet put away the ultrasound wand and got paper towels to wipe Sam's stomach. Jack had stepped away and was looking down at the floor, giving her some privacy while she rearranged her clothes.

"Thank you", he said softly, finally glancing up at her.

"You're welcome", she smiled. "It – _they_ – are yours too."

"I know but still – thank you. You didn't have to do this."

"Colonel", she closed her eyes. "_Jack_ – I'm keeping the babies."

He could feel his throat tighten up again, just like it had a few moments ago when he'd seen those two little blobs that were his children. He nodded, not sure that he could speak. He immediately grimaced – disgusted at himself – when he saw Sam's look of disappointment. He had to do better.

"I'm glad", he told her, a small smile on his face. He cleared his throat, afraid he was going to disgrace himself again. "I'm here for you – for _them_ – you know." He wanted to ask her – to beg her – if he could be their Daddy. He wanted to scream at her to not let Pete Shanahan be a father to his children. But he could do neither – he could only hope.

"I know", she answered with a smile. "And I want you – both – of us to be part of their lives."

"Thank you", he said again, the gratitude thick in his voice. "I will be, don't worry."

"I hate to interrupt", Janet said, walking over after having wheeled the medical equipment out of the way, "but I need to give you a few instructions Sam. Colonel – you can go if you want."

Jack knew it wasn't really a question – the Doc was telling him to get lost. He nodded, gave Sam another smile and headed towards the door. He was stopped by the Doctor's words –

"What about the alien woman? I understand she might be pregnant too?"


	17. Hammond and Enter Pete

_**Hi – and as always thank you for the incredible reviews and comments!**_

_**Just one note about the medical procedure (ultrasound) I talked about in the last chapter. Someone pointed out that this is not the way an early ultrasound is done. In fact, it can be and is exactly what I had at six weeks. Abdominal ones like I described aren't as common at this early stage but can be done. FYI – I studied midwifery in university and worked for many years in this field so try to be accurate when it comes to pregnancy and birth– although I **__**always**__** appreciate comments and corrections from readers. I absolutely make mistakes. My background also explains why so many of my stories are about pregnancy and babies!**_

Jack slowly made his way to Hammond's office, his mind in turmoil. He was absolutely, completely, totally freaked out by everything that had happened – _was_ happening – but the sight of those two little blobs had affected him deeply. Now he didn't know how to think or to feel.

He stopped before he reached the General's office, trying to get his head on straight. He was still pretty sure he didn't want this or need this in his life right now – but still – _two_ babies? Hell, _three_, if he counted the alien woman. But he didn't want to count her, didn't want to _think_ about her. And then of course there was Spud – what the hell was he gonna do about him? He did not want –

"Colonel?" The General was standing in the doorway of his office, looking at him strangely. "Are you planning on coming in?"

"Sorry Sir", Jack replied, following Hammond into his office. "Just thinking."

"Have a seat Colonel", Hammond waved his officer forward. "And I'm sure you have a lot to think about. Care to share?"

Jack readjusted himself in the chair, which suddenly felt too small, too hard, too straight, too _constricting_. Yeah right Jack, he scolded himself, you're not baby bear! Get a grip.

"Colonel?" Hammond prompted again.

"Sorry Sir", he said again, this time with a sigh. "It's just – that it's complicated."

"Of course it is Jack. It's _always_ complicated – especially when Sg-1 is involved."

Jack gave a crack of laughter, knowing that the General was being honest, but also trying to ease the situation. "That's for sure Sir!" He gave another sigh and moved his legs – again. "So – as I said, it's complicated." For the next ten minutes he went through everything that had happened on Teknora, ending with the discovery that Sam was carrying twins. The only thing he didn't tell Hammond was how he'd felt on seeing the babies, how he worried about what Sam was going to do, how he feared what Pete Shanahan was going to do, and what was going to happen with Saeena – just a few of those details he left out.

This time it was Hammond who sighed – or maybe groaned. Jack knew things were bad because the man was rubbing the top of his head. It was a sure give-away that the General was stressed – no, not just stressed but perturbed, disturbed, agitated, frantic, tense – and just plain pissed.

"So – what are we going to do Jack?"

O'Neill looked in surprise at the General. He's asking _me_, he thought? "Uh – not quite sure Sir", he finally managed to mumble. I was counting on _you_ to figure this out! Of course he didn't say that – although his expression probably gave it away.

Another head rub, another sigh. "Okay – let's figure this out together", the General replied. "There shouldn't be a problem with the Air Force – this has all been well-documented from the beginning and we know it wasn't something that was done – intentionally."

"Nice of the Air Force", Jack muttered.

"What was that Colonel?"

"Uh – nothing Sir."

"Fine." Hammond gave a sharp nod, but included the look of death – or look of 'don't piss me off Colonel'. "So, I'll let the powers that be know what's happened. They'll probably insist that Major Carter be taken out from under your command."

Jack nodded – he'd expected that.

"She will, of course, be restricted to Earth as long as she's pregnant."

"She won't be happy", murmured Jack.

"No, probably not. But until we have proof that going through the gate isn't harmful for pregnant women, then we're not taking any chances. As I said, she'll remain Earth side. Both of you will receive any counselling you require – " Hammond held up his hand, palm outward stopping Jack from speaking, "I know – you don't think you'll need it – but Major Carter may decide that she _does_. Whatever, it will be available if you need it."

"And once the – uh – kids arrive?"

"That will be up to Major Carter – and you if she so desires. I will try to make sure that neither of you suffer career-wise over this, although you know as well as I that there are the 'official' reports and the more insidious ones that don't surface in public places. There _will_ be talk – especially since those outside of the SGC can't ever know how these children came to be."

"I know Sir." Jack looked up and stared at the ceiling – he wondered if the General knew there was a broken acoustical tile up there? "What about – Saeena?" He didn't want to think about consequences – right now he just needed to figure out what to do _now_.

Hammond let out a big puff of breath. "Now this one may be more difficult to handle. You're telling me she's pregnant with one of these – embryos?"

"Yeah – at least I think so. I haven't spoken to the Doc since she went for her ultrasound."

"Okay – let me check." Hammond picked up the phone and called down to the Infirmary. After a brief conversation, where he gave nothing away, he hung up the phone and pursed his lips. "Well, that's that! She is indeed pregnant – about seven weeks along. You're sure this is one of uh – _the_ embryos?"

"If you mean was it mine – ur – mineand Carter's? Yes, then we're pretty sure. Uh Sir – did they say – is there just one or – more?"

It took a moment for the General to figure out what he was asking, but in the end they figured it out. "Okay then - Child? One.!"

"Thank God." Jack bowed his head in relief. Three was going to be hard enough to deal with. He figured it had to be only one based on the remaining embryos – but hell, with his luck lately …

"So, any ideas on this one Colonel?" The General was looking at him with compassion – which he really hated. He was close enough to losing it as it was.

"Uh – not really. I think – Carter and I will have to talk it over. I – it's my – our – child and I want to make sure -"

"Yes?"

"I don't want it being raised on some foreign planet Sir", he said angrily.

"You want to - keep it?"

"I – yeah, I guess." Hell, he hadn't really thought about this in any detail, although he knew he would fight to the death to make sure his child didn't disappear into some other solar system.

"Okay", George breathed out and rubbed his head – the two together _really_ showing how stressed he was. "I guess the issue is what to do with her now. According to Dr. Frasier she's in good health, even if a bit underweight. She certainly can't stay underground here at the base for the next seven months but I don't know if I'm comfortable having her go off base."

"Where else would we take her?"

"The Tokra?"

"No! I'm sorry Sir but – just no. If she went with them – hell, who knows what would happen. No – I don't want any child of mine in the care of those guys."

"Jacob would make sure she – and the baby – were okay. It is his grandchild."

"He doesn't know."

"What? You didn't tell him?" Hammond sounded surprised and slightly angry.

"No – Carter wanted me to hold off. I don't think she was quite sure what to do."

The General nodded slowly. "I see – probably a good decision not to tell him – although you're going to have to sooner or later."

"Me? No way – Sir. I'll leave it to Carter."

"Coward Jack?"

"Damn right Sir! I'd rather face a room full of System Lords."

Hammond laughed. "Yeah, I agree with you on that one. Okay", he sighed, "back to the alien woman. I have to figure out what to do with her."

"I – think the best thing is for her to stay here Sir – on Earth. We can look after her and watch out for her. She's practically a kid – she'll pose no threat."

"Will she be able to keep quiet about where she's from?"

"I'm sure she will, if we impress it on her."

"And where will she stay? With you?"

"I – probably not a good idea Sir. She's frightened of me I think and – it would feel weird."

"Yes, you're probably right. I doubt Major Carter would want her to stay with her?"

"No – no that wouldn't work at all."

Hammond looked at him closely and quickly understood. "So – that leaves Dr. Jackson."

"She trusts him", Jack agreed, "although it might be difficult for Daniel. I mean – he's got a small place and I think he might be a bit uncomfortable with a young woman hanging around."

"So what option does that leave us?"

"Well, I thought we could ask Janet – Dr. Frasier."

"Dr. Frasier?" Hammond frowned for a few seconds, considering the suggestion. "It seems like a good idea, but she'll have to agree to it. I don't want you or anyone to pressure her."

"I won't General – I promise. I thought I'd – give her something – some money you know, to cover her additional costs – if she agrees that is."

"Good idea", Hammond nodded. "In fact, I think the Air Force needs to chip in something too. Well, do you want to ask her or shall I?"

"I think I'd better Sir. She might think it's an order coming from you – and she can tell me to take a giant leap if she's not interested."

"Okay – I'll leave you to it. If that doesn't work however, we'll have to think of another solution. I'll also have to get permission for her to go off base. It may be impossible in which case we'll have to look to one of our allies – I know, _not_ the Tokra – to take her in."

"Thank you Sir."

"And Colonel."

"Yes?" Jack looked at his superior, curious at his tone. He was pretty sure this was going to be very uncomfortable.

"Take care of yourself. I know this has to be hard and you've been through a lot recently. If you need anything – if you need to talk – or something, you know my door is always open."

"Of course Mon General – and I shall gladly avail myself of this open door – if I ever need it!" Jack gave the General a grin, although inside he felt warmed by Hammond's words. He knew he'd be _very_ tempted to spill his guts to this man – but also knew he wouldn't do it. It just wasn't him.

"I mean it Jack. Don't let yourself bottle this up. Come talk to me – or Frasier – or even Mackenzie if that would help. This is a lot to take in and you might need some help. If it makes you feel more comfortable, drop by my house for a beer. We'll keep this strictly between friends."

"Thank you General – George", he smiled. He still didn't plan on talking to anyone, but he was really touched.

"Okay – enough – I see Teal'c and the others should arrive soon. Let's get this over with."

As it was, the briefing didn't last too long and was relatively painless. Hammond told them that the Colonel had explained everything – asking only if they had anything different to say. They went over a few minor details and left off any discussion of the pregnancies or what was going to happen next.

"What about Saeena General?" Daniel asked, a worried frown on his face. He'd more or less taken responsibility for the young woman and felt like he had to represent her interests. He glanced at both Jack and Sam, only to sigh. Both of them were looking down – and refused to say anything about her.

"The Colonel and I have discussed some options, but until we have a chance to talk to everyone involved I'd rather not say too much. Don't worry – she will be well cared for."

Daniel nodded, although he still felt concerned. It's not that he didn't trust General Hammond – it was the rest of the Air Force, and the NID he didn't trust. Still, he was pretty sure Jack would make sure nothing bad happened.

"Alright people" the General continued as the speaking voices quickly dumped out. I want you to take some down time until further notice. Major Carter, can I see you for a moment?"

Sam pulled into her driveway, totally exhausted and ready for doing absolutely nothing. She would really have loved to take a long, hot bath, but Janet had warned her against it, explaining that hot baths and pregnancy didn't go well together. A tepid bath didn't sound at all appetizing so she decided on getting into her comfy jammies, getting a big bowl of ice-cream and watching a total chick flic – although one without babies in it.

She refused to allow herself to think about anything at all relating to said small humans, to Colonels and commanding officers or to alien women carrying _her_ child. Nope, she was going to get comfortable and turn on An Affair to Remember. A good tear-jerker was always good for a wounded soul.

She let out a long sigh of relief as she collapsed on the couch, remote in hand. _Much_ better. She turned on the TV, settled back and took a big spoonful of Rocky Road ice-cream

It was the Colonel's favorite, she remembered, just as the sweet, cool taste landed on her tongue. Crap! Why did she have to think about him? She concentrated on the movie, paying particular attention to sexy Cary Grant. She loved the combination of sexiness and humor that he portrayed – kind of like the Col – "Aaargh!" She stabbed her spoon back into the ice-cream. Stop _thinking_ about him and watch the damn movie.

Except she couldn't. She kept picturing his face as he watched the two tiny figures on the ultrasound screen. She could see his wonder and his – could she admit to herself that it was joy? Yes – that's what it had been. She knew, because she had felt it herself, through all the fear and anguish and uncertainty – yes, there had been joy.

Cary Grant was speaking to Deborah Kerr – God, he was so amazing! But she was pretty sure that Cary wouldn't have known what to do with a Goa'uld, or how to save her if Deborah Kerr was kidnapped by an evil scientist. She was _positive_ he would make jokes while he was being beaten and tortured. And she was absolutely sure he would do absolutely anything and everything – even so far as giving his life – to make sure those he cared about were safe. So Cary, you may be handsome and debonair, sexy and witty and gorgeous – but you weren't Colonel O'Neill!

Her head dropped back with a soft plop onto the couch cushion. She was in big trouble. She was pregnant – with her commander's babies. Worse than that, however, was the fact that she _cared_ about him – way too much – _and_ she was having his babies, _and_ she was engaged to a kind, decent, _lovely_ man who loved her dearly and who could give her a wonderful life.

She stood up suddenly, plunking the ice-cream bowl down on her coffee table. She marched over and turned off the TV – even though the remote was on the couch.

"You're a great guy Pete", she said out-loud, but you're no Cary Grant!

Okay – now _that_ just made her feel guilty. Of course he wasn't Cary Grant! She didn't _want_ Cary Grant. She wanted decent and kind and – all those things Pete was. Jack – ur – _Cary_ was just someone to think of from afar, someone to dream over and fantasize about and imagine having his beautiful, brown-eyed babies.

God – she _was_ having his brown eyed babies. "Not Cary's idiot", she murmured out loud. "_Jack_'_s_." Oh my God – she was having Jack O'Neill's babies! What the hell was she going to do?

She'd been home two days with little or nothing to do. She would normally have gone for a long run – but was worried it was too much this early in the pregnancy. Janet had told her to carry on with her normal activities, but somehow a ten mile run seemed a bit excessive.

She debated calling Daniel and Teal'c – but knew they'd ask questions when the Colonel didn't show up. It's not that she didn't want to see him, it's just _she didn't want to see him_! Yes, she was a chicken, an out and out coward. She kept remembering his expression when he'd tried to talk to her after her visit with Hammond. He'd reached out to her to try and discuss what was happening and she'd shut him down. She just couldn't deal with it right then – but she should simply have told him that and asked for a bit of time. Instead, she'd bitten his head off and told him she had to go see Pete.

God – she wanted to flay herself. _Why_ had she said that? She'd instantly seen his expression close down and the warmth die out of his eyes. He'd simply said 'fine' and had turned and left her standing in the hallway. She'd wanted to rush after him, but had been too emotionally and physically exhausted. Instead she'd come home and had avoided the whole damn thing.

She needed to talk to him – she needed to discuss what they were going to do. But she didn't _know_ – that was the problem and what was worse, she didn't know what she even wanted. Everything was mixed up and right now all she wanted to do was not think about him and certainly not talk about him.

That's why, when the door rang, she almost didn't answer it. She was positive it was the Colonel. He'd tracked her down (okay – so he knew very well where she lived and that she was at home) and was going to force her to talk to him. She had a brief picture of him tying her to a kitchen chair and forcing her to listen. She couldn't help but grin – it would be true torture if it was the other way around!

In the end she decided she might as well get it over with. They _did_ need to talk and they might as well do it now.

She slowly padded to the front door and, with a deep breath, reached for the handle and opened her front door.

"Surprise baby!" Pete was standing there, hidden behind the biggest bouquet of flowers she'd ever seen.

"Pete", she said faintly – in surprise and, if she was telling the truth, in displeasure. If there was one person she wanted to see less than the Colonel, it was Pete. "How come you rang?" she asked, taking the flowers out of his hands and turning towards the kitchen in order to find a vase. "Don't you have your key?" She'd had to eventually given him a key, although it had been a surprisingly difficult thing to do. Still, she'd done it when they'd gotten engaged. She figured there was no way she could deny him this, not when they were soon to be married.

"I do, but I wanted to surprise you. Do you like the flowers?"

"They're beautiful Pete – thank you."

"Anything for my beautiful gal", he said, sliding up to her and leaning forward to give her a gentle kiss on the mouth.

It was only at that moment that she thought about the Colonel and about the fact that he would have to bend down – even if just a couple of inches – to kiss her. Pete, on the other hand, simply leaned forward or – on some occasions had even had to lift his head _up_. She liked tall men – _loved_ tall men. She peered at Pete and admitted that she wished he were taller.

"Would you like a drink?" she finally asked, the guilt making her sound warmer that she was feeling.

"I'd love one babe", he replied, turning her with his arm and walking with her into the kitchen. She quickly found a vase, filled it and plunked the flowers in. She then fixed a cold drink for herself and Pete.

"So – how did your mission go?" he asked, taking a sip of the straw. "You were gone for a pretty long time."

"Mmm hmm", she answered, using the straw as an excuse not to speak.

"Was it – did you – you know, _kill_ any of the Gould guys?"

"Gould guys? Sounds like someone who would be out selling cookies!" she scoffed. "And no – we didn't kill any Goa'ulds." She wasn't about to tell him about Ra'mash.

"So, what were you doing? And before you say 'classified' – remember I do have clearance!"

She stared at her boyfriend – her fiancé – and wondered if this was the time. Should she tell him she was pregnant - with _twins_ – and they were the children of her commanding officer and a man with whom she'd never even kissed (she wasn't about to count that time in the locker room years ago). Should she beg him to stick with her, to marry her and raise the babies as his own? Would Jack allow that? Would this man _want _that? Did _she_ want that?

She must have been staring for longer than she realized because Pete actually came over and snapped his fingers in her face. "

"Wha - ? Huh?" she replied, fuzzily.

"Are you sure you're okay Sam?" Pete was looking at her worriedly. "You look like you've seen a ghost. Have a seat and maybe then you can tell me what's wrong."

She gratefully took the glass of iced tea he brought to her and she sat and tried to relax. After a few deep sips she set the glass on the table beside her, ready to continue.

"Pete – first off, I need to tell you I'm pregnant."


End file.
